The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) has announced that Hemiko will be its partner for the new district heat network.
The low-carbon network will use waste heat from local data centres to provide energy to more than 9,000 new homes and businesses in the Old Oak and Park Royal area, as well as existing buildings such as Central Middlesex Hospital.
This is the first time in the UK that waste heat from data centre cooling systems will be used in this way, an OPDC spokesperson said.
The first phase of the network is expected to deliver yearly heat equivalent to boiling around one billion kettles.
The network will expand over five phases between 2028 and 2040, serving the wider Old Oak and Park Royal regeneration area, with plans to build up to 25,000 homes over the next two decades.
OPDC’s chief executive David Lunts said: “OPDC’s innovative new heat network is leading the way in developing greener and cheaper energy for thousands of residents in west London.
“With heat network specialist Hemiko now confirmed as our delivery partner, we are excited to be working together to progress the design and delivery of our heat network and to deliver a cleaner, more sustainable energy supply for west Londoners.”
The project has received £36 million from the government’s Green Heat Network Fund, and an additional £1.7 million from the Mayor of London’s Local Energy Accelerator (LEA) programme and the Mayor’s Green Finance programme.
Hemiko will invest £63 million in the first phases, growing to around £600 million by 2040.
Toby Heysham, chief executive officer at Hemiko, said: “We are so pleased to be investing in and delivering an innovative new heat network in partnership with OPDC.
“The heat network will enable the creation of low carbon, low pollution neighbourhoods in London.
“There is enough surplus and wasted heat in London to heat the whole city – we just need heat networks to access it.”
