CLYDE Gateway, in partnership with Scottish Water Horizons, has completed a project to install what it described as ‘one of the country’s most innovative and sustainable heating systems’.
The district heating network at the Clyde Gateway site in Glasgow’s east end broke ground in 2020, following £2.1 million funding from SP Energy Networks’ Green Economy Fund. Now complete, it will provide instant heating and hot water to local residents and businesses.
As Scotland’s first Green Regeneration Innovation District (GRID), the £6.1 million Clyde Gateway project will remove the need for individual properties to house gas boilers. Initially 48 homes and Clyde Gateway’s new low carbon EastWorks offices will be connected to the district heating network with plans to connect over 300 homes and businesses over the coming years.
Clyde Gateway’s GRID project was selected by the Department for International Trade to become one of a few select Scottish projects for the launch of its new Investment Atlas.
The system has been designed using a mix of heat from waste water technology alongside a combined heat and power engine (CHP).
The project has been developed in partnership with Scottish Water Horizons, a commercial subsidiary of Scottish Water, with energy generated by the system used to power its Dalmarnock Waste Water Treatment Works. The waste heat generated by this process will be captured and stored to use throughout the network to supply heating and hot water for homes and businesses through 3km of underground pipework.
Clyde Gateway explained the network benefits from the addition of two 100kw heat pumps which capture and amplify the natural heat found in wastewater. These pumps extract heat energy from the final effluent at the treatment works.
Ian Manson, chief executive of Clyde Gateway, said, “We are extremely proud to be Scotland’s first Green Regeneration Innovation District (GRID) and this new sustainable district heating system places Clyde Gateway as one of Scotland’s leading energy efficiency and sustainability sites, benefitting hundreds of homes and businesses. This incredible 3km-long underground project is just as important to the ongoing regeneration of Glasgow’s east end as any of the transformative above ground projects that have taken place over the past decade.”
Paul Kerr, MD of Scottish Water Horizons, added, “The need for collaborative and innovative approaches to the way we heat our buildings has never been greater with the implications of climate change evident every day. We’re thrilled to have played a part in this momentous project, supporting Scotland’s largest regeneration programme to date.
“With Scottish Water committed to net zero emissions by 2040, we’re constantly looking at ways we can contribute and facilitate this ambitious target. The Clyde Gateway project will not only help tackle fuel poverty in Glasgow’s east end, but will provide sustainable, efficient heating to support our journey to net zero.”
