25th Mar 2015 13:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - The UK Department for Energy and Climate Change Wednesday said SSE PLC is set to carry out a feasibility study to look at the potential of heating UK households by tapping into clean renewable heat hidden in the UK's waterways.
According to the Department, there are over 4,000 rivers, estuaries, canals and coastal sites across the country that together could provide over six gigawatts of capacity for low-carbon heat to a minimum of 1.0 million households.
By installing a water source heat pump people can help eliminate the need for "dirty gas-fired" domestic heating and a typical household could slash its carbon footprint by up to 50%, said the Department.
Water source heat pumps operate by taking heat from the water and feeding it into local heat networks or single buildings, providing a low-carbon source of renewable heat to local areas.
"Doing this will help contribute to an energy mix that maximises clean, reliable home-grown resources rather than relying on foreign fossil fuels," said Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey. "This is exactly why we?re giving local people, developers and councils the keys they need to unlock the enormous potential of our waterways."
The Department said Battersea Power Station is the first developer to look into installing a water source heat pump and SSE has been chosen to carry out a full heat pump feasibility study, said the UK Department.
"The company (SSE) will also investigate the re-use of existing engineering infrastructure that was built 80 years ago to connect the Power Station to the Thames when it was generating power. If a heat pump is installed at the site, it would be one of the energy sources used to provide heat to around 4000 new homes, shops, offices and public amenities being provided at the Power Station," said the Department in a statement.
"Being located on the banks of the River Thames in central London we are ideally placed to investigate what role water source technology may play in supplying our energy needs and we are delighted that SSE will be undertaking a feasibility study to establish the options available to us," said Phillip Gullett, chief operating officer at Battersea Power Station.
SSE shares were up 0.1% to 1,558.12 pence per share on Wednesday afternoon.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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