Leeds low carbon heat network set to expand to thousands more residents

The expansion is planned to include up to 28 buildings, with up to 8,000 residents and mixed-use customers benefitting from connections, making it the most significant single investment into the project since its inception.

Households benefitting from the expansion will enjoy more reliable, more affordable, lower carbon heating.

By using heat recovered from the city’s non-recyclable domestic waste to provide warmth and hot water to buildings in the city, the Leeds PIPES district heating project is helping businesses and residents to move away from costly fossil-fuel powered heating systems.

The continued expansion of the district heating network is supporting efforts to end the city’s contribution to climate change by transitioning to lower carbon heating systems. Last year, 5,945 tonnes of carbon were saved through the network.

The original project connected over 1,900 homes and non-domestic buildings to the energy-from-waste scheme. Earlier this year, over two hundred and fifty council properties in Lovell Park Heights, Lovell Park Grange, and Lovell Park Towers were set up to receive heat from the network.

This year, connections have been completed at Leeds Conservatoire and the former Technology Campus Student Residential development and both sites are now receiving heat from the network.

Over the summer, agreements have also been signed with the new Railway Street affordable homes scheme, 24-28 Great George Street, which is to become student apartments with the Victoria Hotel pub reopening on the ground floor, Leeds College of Building’s North Street Campus and the Co-op Academy Brierley SEND School in Cross Green.

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space and Councillor Jessica Lennox, executive member for housing, said:

“We are both pleased that many more residents will soon be paying significantly less to heat their homes thanks to this latest expansion of the Leeds PIPES network.

“UK’s homes are some of the least efficient and most reliant on costly fossil fuel gas in Europe, and too many families in our city struggle to pay their energy bills. We are committed to helping households by making our homes greener and fit for the future.

“Leeds is working towards becoming the first net zero city in the UK, and connecting more homes to affordable low carbon heating like Leeds PIPES is a step in the right direction.”

ENDS