Worthing’s new heat network brings in the community. Can we really find ways to ensure that everyone gets a benefit from Net Zero? Not just by doing the right thing, or far in the future, but here, now, in terms of tangible things like jobs and lower costs? According to Charlotte Owen, yes, we can. Charlotte is the Growth Director of Hemiko, one of the UK’s leading providers of heat networks. I met Charlotte and her colleagues at an evening presentation in Worthing Town Hall. “I joined the sector because it was green and sustainable,” she explained, “and I’ve been working in it for seven years” Unsurprising: her enthusiasm was infectious.
Essentially, a heat network links a whole group of buildings into a single system, capturing any waste heat and turning it into hot water, which is then used to heat and power those buildings in turn. The beauty of it is that extra sources of heat like waste water or air source heat pumps or even data centres can then be plugged in flexibly, according to the needs of the stakeholders. “They are a massive part of how we are going to de-carbonise”, explains Charlotte. No wonder they’re already common in northern Europe. Copenhagen runs on 99% heat networks, and our own UK Climate Change Committee smiles on them.”
But what really intrigued me was the community aspect of the project. Too many well-meaning projects to cut pollution or produce greener energy run into fierce opposition, as we all know. Instead, Hemiko are moving with the grain of the community. “Introducing new networks causes disruption, so it’s really important that we show the community the benefits of our work” says Charlotte. Hence the partnerships with local businesses: they have a digital agency, a printer, and construction material suppliers on board already. And what’s more, there are jobs for locals. Most questions about the network currently come from domestic households who would like to join, but can’t yet as the costs are likely to be too high for now.
But you have to start somewhere, so initially the network will mainly cover municipal buildings like the Town Hall, the hospital and Worthing Assembly Hall. Much of the initial heat will come from a large heat pump to be installed at one of our larger car parks. But Charlotte’s team are ambitious: “We are encouraging more and more connections to the heat network”, she explains. “We’re targeting large commercial buildings, offices and other
public buildings.” They have already had successes in places as far-flung as Cardiff,
Greenwich and Clapham.
Potentially, the Worthing project will be the first in the UK to offer every building low carbon heat network connections. There is much more to be found on the company’s website. But in a time when many initiatives to de-carbonise are running into determined resistance, Hemiko offers a practical way of generating not just sustainable energy but also sustainable hope.
Worthing Heat Network – Hemiko
By Keir Hartley
