AN INNOVATIVE project to supply heat to the Northern Gateway development area has received government backing.

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) selected the Northern Gateway Heat Network as one of nine low-carbon energy schemes nationwide to benefit from the first phase of its £320m Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP).

Colchester Council’s successful bid will see £3.5m invested in the development and construction of a sustainable, infrastructure-first, district heating system that will use the heat from groundwater to pump heat into local homes and businesses, in what is known as an ‘open loop’ system.

As well as providing a single source of greener energy – saving 850 tonnes of CO2 per annum compared to conventional heating solutions, whereby individual properties generate their own heat – the Northern Gateway Heat Network is expected to generate income for the council and attract additional investment into the area from energy-intensive users, once the project completes in 2020.

There are also plans to turn part of the Energy Centre, which will house the heat network boiler, into a visitor learning centre, to showcase the heat network as a sustainable low-carbon energy solution.

Initial work on developing the Northern Gateway Heat Network has been supported by BEIS’s Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU). HNDU was set up to provide grant funding and guidance to local authorities, in order to progress the development stages of heat networks projects from heat-mapping through to early commercialisation.

Council leader Paul Smith said: “This cutting-edge infrastructure-first project is of considerable importance and has the same potential to reduce our carbon footprint and generate significant returns for the council as solar panels on our properties have done – further demonstrating our commitment to new forms of green technology that, I’m proud to say, we lead the field in.

“The Northern Gateway Heat Network is just one more example of forward-thinking green initiatives that the Government also sees us leading on, and to which it is prepared to lend its support.”