Waste heat from industry and even Chester’s canal could be recycled if a feasibility study being investigated by Cheshire West and Chester Council proves positive.
CWaC is hiring consultants to look into whether this heat can be redistributed to other businesses and even NHS health facilities.
Experts will examine the possibility of district heating networks at three locations in the borough.
In its simplest form a district heating network involves moving heat from one place to another.
The research study will consider the feasibility of transferring waste heat from industry in Ellesmere Port, via a network of pipes, to other businesses in the area and how heat from the canal in Chester can be processed and distributed ‘for potential use by nearby buildings including the health complex’.
Repurposing existing heat aims to make the borough more self-sufficient, reduce its carbon footprint, and become less reliant on the national gas network.
Work began in 2014 with an energy master planning study, matching sources of heat to areas of demand. This latest phase of work will take that study further to include detail design and technical information about how to make it happen. The outcome of the feasibility study will provide the required information to further develop a business and financial case for the creation of a district heating network.
The work is funded via the government’s Heat Networks Delivery Unit which provides grant funding and guidance to local authorities in England and Wales on the development of such heat network projects.
Cllr Karen Shore, cabinet member for the environment and member for Whitby ward in Ellesmere Port, said: “One of our key outcomes is to create the cleanest, greenest, most sustainable neighbourhoods in the country.
"The industrial areas of Ellesmere Port, along the corridor to Chester, currently produce vast amounts of heat, which can be harnessed for energy, reducing carbon footprint and saving energy resource. Cheshire West supported a feasibility study as a facilitator because it meets with our sustainability agenda and the aim to reduce the carbon footprint in the borough.”
