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21
Sept
Harrogate heating network: How would it work and why is the town council bidding for one?
From Bradford to Scandinavia, local heating networks are on the rise — and Harrogate could be about to get its own.
In August, the Stray Ferret revealed that Harrogate Town Council was set to bid for £40,000 of central government funding to carry out a feasibility study into a potential heating system.
The move would see the town embark on a plan to deliver cheaper energy, with Jennyfields and Bilton earmarked as some of the areas to benefit.
But what is a heating network and how does it work?
‘Exciting and innovative’
For Cllr Chris Aldred, Mayor of Harrogate, the move towards a heating network is “exciting and innovative”.
The idea is the first major project undertaken by Harrogate Town Council, which was created this year.
It wants to undertake a feasibility study into the idea of installing centralised systems in various parts of the town, which would allow residents to get renewable energy at affordable prices.
Cllr Chris Aldred (left) with Cllr Philip Broadbank, North Yorkshire councillor.
The town council is being advised on its bid by Dr Stewart Davies, who has been involved in a similar scheme in Bradford.
Cllr Aldred said the scheme may have far reaching benefits. He said:
It’s exciting and innovative and it could potentially benefit an awful lot of people.
A district heating network connects users to a central heating source via insulated pipes underground.
The idea is to provide cheaper energy to a specific geographical area.
The Harrogate scheme would prioritise the town’s three most deprived areas for cheap energy first: Bilton, Fairfax and Jennyfields.
For Cllr Aldred, bringing cheaper energy to those areas was part of the reason why the council decided to bid for the funding. He said:
People think there is a lot of money in Harrogate and there is. But there is also quite a lot of significant social poverty.
It’s those three areas which would benefit if this went ahead. That was the attraction to it for the town council.
District heating networks are popular in northern Europe, such as Scandinavia.
The networks are also being encouraged by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero at a time when ministers want the UK to rely on its own energy — in particular renewables.
“We need to think differently, because we’re in a world of renewable energy,” Dr Davies said.
Years in the making
But, while the prospect of cheaper energy seems exciting, the project in Harrogate is some way off.
The town council plans to submit a bid to the Great British Energy Community Fund, which the government set up to fund feasibility studies into community energy schemes. The deadline for applications is November 12.
In a bid to strengthen its case to government, it has also gone out to tender for a company to undertake the potential feasibility study.
Whoever is selected would be expected to determine whether such a scheme could succeed and what next steps would be required.
However, while Cllr Aldred and Dr Davies are confident in the bid, even if it were successful, the project would be some years in the making.
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