United Kingdom
2015
- Type : Project
- Size : Local community
- Area : Residential
Environmental benefit
48,600 tonnes of CO2 prevented (over 30 year lifespan)
A biomass district heating system serving 543 homes
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United Kingdom
2015
- Type : Project
- Size : Local community
- Area : Residential
Environmental benefit
48,600 tonnes of CO2 prevented (over 30 year lifespan)
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A housing co-operative in one of Scotland’s poorest regions is investing £6.5 million in a scheme to boost almost 550 households out of fuel poverty. West Whitlawburn Housing Co-operative – run by a volunteer board of 14 unpaid tenants – will connect 543 homes to a renewable biomass boiler through a district heating system. The project, part-funded with £1.5 million of Warm Homes Fund loan cash, will bring annual heat and hot water savings of around 20% to tenants.
The capital cost of the scheme is £6.5 million and
will be funded by Energy Company Obligation funding,
Scottish Government Warm Home Fund loan funding
and European Regional Development grant funding.
The main boiler plant will consist of a 740kW (685kW
continuous output) biomass boiler, which will operate in
conjunction with a 50,000-litre water tank known as a
thermal store. The boiler will heat the water in the tank
which will then be circulated to the 543 homes through a
network of pipes.
It will then heat radiators and a hot water tank in the
homes using a heat exchanger, meaning the systems
remain separate.
Biomass systems burn wood chips or pellets. The West
Whitlawburn scheme will also use three gas boilers to
provide top-up heat and resilience to the system, in case
of problems with the single biomass boiler.
Paul Farrell added: “Because of the scale of the project,
we have received funding from a number of sources, but
our experience with the Warm Homes Fund has been a
positive one. Large-scale projects like this will make a
real difference to the West Whitlawburn community, and
wouldn’t be possible without loans like this.”
R-ACES has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 892429
A housing co-operative in one of Scotland’s poorest regions is investing £6.5 million in a scheme to boost almost 550 households out of fuel poverty. West Whitlawburn Housing Co-operative – run by a volunteer board of 14 unpaid tenants – will connect 543 homes to a renewable biomass boiler through a district heating system. The project, part-funded with £1.5 million of Warm Homes Fund loan cash, will bring annual heat and hot water savings of around 20% to tenants.
The capital cost of the scheme is £6.5 million and
will be funded by Energy Company Obligation funding,
Scottish Government Warm Home Fund loan funding
and European Regional Development grant funding.
The main boiler plant will consist of a 740kW (685kW
continuous output) biomass boiler, which will operate in
conjunction with a 50,000-litre water tank known as a
thermal store. The boiler will heat the water in the tank
which will then be circulated to the 543 homes through a
network of pipes.
It will then heat radiators and a hot water tank in the
homes using a heat exchanger, meaning the systems
remain separate.
Biomass systems burn wood chips or pellets. The West
Whitlawburn scheme will also use three gas boilers to
provide top-up heat and resilience to the system, in case
of problems with the single biomass boiler.
Paul Farrell added: “Because of the scale of the project,
we have received funding from a number of sources, but
our experience with the Warm Homes Fund has been a
positive one. Large-scale projects like this will make a
real difference to the West Whitlawburn community, and
wouldn’t be possible without loans like this.”