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Heating the way to sustainability

Using low carbon heat networks to help innovate and regenerate the London Borough of Waltham Forest

The challenge

Back in 2015, the London Borough of Waltham Forest, the Greater London Authority and Taylor Wimpey, approached E.ON for help to work on a plan to create a district heating network which would connect multiple new housing developments within the Blackhorse Lane station sites cluster, in Waltham Forest, East London.

The challenge was to engage and work with multiple stakeholders across the public and private sector to create a successful large scale district heating scheme, the first private sector led decentralised energy network across multiple sites, connecting these new build housing developments, something that had never been achieved perviously due to the number of stakeholders involved within the project.

Even rooftop PV installations pose a challenge, as the local grid does not always have sufficient capacity to absorb the energy generated. In order to avoid costly infrastructure upgrades payable by the developer, the innovative solutions enabling connections to distribution networks in new construction projects are needed.

E.ON’s planning, collaborative efforts and innovative thinking, have ensured that this flagship project has been successful in helping supply the new community with low carbon energy.

Lead Sustainability Officer, London Borough of Waltham Forest

Proactive, successful collaborations

Blackhorse Lane is an excellent example of what can be achieved when collaboration is fostered across multiple stakeholders, and shows our passion for continuous improvement and development of low carbon schemes. The project was cited by the Greater London Authority (GLA) as an exemplar project demonstrating the ambition of the London Plan by connecting multiple developments to one district heating network.

Due to the sheer scale of stakeholder engagement collaboration across all parties was paramount, to ensure the aims of the GLA and the London Borough of Waltham Forest were addressed, and to balance all economic, legislative, regulatory, and environmental considerations. We used a proactive approach with the formation of the Council led Landowners Hub and regular workshops for ongoing dialogue to provide key insights into the process, lessons learned and the sharing of knowledge to ensure at all stages of the development program that communication was clear, and challenges and risks were mitigated accordingly. With the pooling of resources and expertise, and the pursuit of continuous improvement across all parties we have been able to help deliver cleaner and more sustainable places to live.

Provided a full design and build service, connecting heat and hot water to 476 homes, and 650m² of small commercial units at Blackhorse Lane.

Expanded networks to three more developments, and through low carbon technologies installed, saved the customer around 46% in energy use.

The solution

In the first stage, we provided a full design and build service for Taylor Wimpey, for the energy centre and entire heat network. In 2016, the energy centre and all the heat interface units were connected and installed to provide heat and hot water to the 476 residential properties and 650m² of small commercial units at Blackhorse Lane. E.ON entered into a 40-year energy service company contract under which we now supply and manage the delivery of decentralised energy to these properties.

Since then, we have been able to expand the existing heat network to connect a further three developments, Blackhorse Mills (Legal and General) – a new build project of 479 apartments and a leisure centre, Equipment Works (Telford Homes), which consists of 342 residential units and Blackhorse Point (Barratt) which comprises a further 350 homes.

Key deliverables

Over 1,600 residents supplied with heat and hot water

46% reduction in energy consumption

942 tonnes of CO₂ saved per year

ADE Award

The ADE is the Association of Decentralised Energy, their awards celebrate the people and projects which have developed innovative decentralised energy solutions, tailored to the needs of the customer.

E.ON’s innovative designs to commit and expand heat networks and decarbonise communities has been recognised by the ADE in which E.ON were awarded the ‘Heat and Efficiency: Operational Project’ award at the 2021 ADE.

The results

With all four developments connected, the total number of residents and businesses around the borough being supplied heating and hot water is just over 1,600. This project has saved around 46% in CO₂ emissions, that’s 942 tonnes of CO₂, in comparison to the expected emissions from traditional gas boilers.

By expanding the existing heat network, we were able to mitigate the need for the new developments to install individual gas boilers or additional energy centres, and instead maximised the efficiency of the incumbent network, realising environmental and economic benefits for the local area. The result is a significant impact on carbon emissions savings using one centralised energy system.

We’re proud to have won the ‘Operational Project’ award at the Association of Decentralised Energy (ADE) and thanks goes to the sales, design, legal and constructions colleagues who have worked on the project so far!

Anthony Poole, Head of Business Development for City Energy Solutions at E.ON

The future

As pressure mounts on developers and councils across the country to find alternative and renewable sources of energy, we're already out there building tomorrow's district heating systems and showing we're a company with the knowledge and experience to provide the right solution.

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