Worthing Heat Network
Worthing Borough Council has enabled a £500m low carbon investment in Worthing, expected to drive economic growth and create dozens of jobs across the town, including opportunities for school leavers. Worthing Borough Council selected Hemiko – a trusted and experienced heat network investor, developer, and operator – as its partner to deliver the low carbon infrastructure project.
The Worthing Heat Network is expected to offer a connection to every building in town by 2050, with the first buildings to be connected by Summer 2025. Work is set to commence on the Worthing Heat Network in July 2024.
Hemiko has worked on heat networks projects across the country – this is the company’s third project in West Sussex alone. The business is rolling out this offer countrywide – it has £1 billion of investment to deploy into town- and city-wide low carbon heat networks by 2030.
What is a heat network?
Heat networks, also known as district heating, work by collecting local unused heat, turning it into hot water and distributing that hot water to local users via a network of underground pipes. They are a low carbon replacement for gas boilers, providing both heating and hot water.
Overall, in the right location, heat networks are 40% cheaper than using individual air source heat pumps for each building. They are commonplace in towns and cities in Scandinavia.
About the scheme
The Worthing Heat Network was identified in 2019 in the Council’s Carbon Neutral Plan as the most economic and efficient way to decarbonise the town’s Civic Quarter.
The Worthing Heat Network will enable connected buildings to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels for heating and hot water, reducing their heating emissions by around 90%. At the Worthing Heat Network Energy Centre will be a heat pump system, collecting heat from the air. The long-term plan is to bring on more sources of locally available, unused heat.
The first buildings to connect are Worthing Town Hall, Worthing Hospital, Assembly Hall, Portland House, Worthing Museum & Art Gallery, and Connaught Theatre, with more to come over time. This first phase alone will save 3,000 tonnes of carbon a year, the equivalent to taking 2,000 cars off the road.
|
Protecting consumers To ensure that the heat network delivers value and excellence for Worthing, the council has established a Governance Agreement with Hemiko, which binds Hemiko to providing low carbon heat at a fair price and with excellent customer services. From 2025, regulation will also apply in the heat networks market, giving customers added protection. Social value The project will create around 40 local jobs in the first 5 years, and up to 500 jobs out to 2050. Wrapped up in Hemiko’s offer to the town is also work experience placements and apprenticeships across a range of roles, from construction and engineering, to marketing and community engagement. Hemiko is currently engaging with local contractors and suppliers to keep the supply chain as local as possible and bring additional value to Worthing. The firm also has a programme of engagement available for local schools and colleges, including site visits to the energy centre once constructed. They have also committed to local volunteering and donations, including skills support, in cooperation with local businesses and charities. Funding The Worthing Heat Network received over £7m of funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Heat Networks Investment Project, unlocking a further £40m initial investment from Hemiko. In total, Hemiko plan to invest in the region of £500m by 2050 into decarbonising Worthing. |
|
Cllr Sophie Cox, Worthing’s Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, said: Toby Heysham, CEO at Hemiko, said: “We are so proud to have been selected as Worthing Borough Council’s partner for the Worthing Heat Network. We are looking forward to showing the local community that our core focus will be minimising disruption and delivering customer excellence, whilst we build out this important decarbonisation project. The Worthing Heat Network will cut the town’s emissions significantly, offering improvements to air quality and public health. We will offer dozens of jobs, apprenticeships and work experience placements to local residents, as well as volunteering hours, investment and opportunities for SMEs.” Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, said: “Ambitious projects like this in Worthing are why the UK is a world leader when it comes to reducing carbon emissions. We awarded over £7 million to Worthing Borough Council to help get the project off the ground, and I’m pleased to see they now have a partner in Hemiko to deliver a scheme that will benefit the whole town by delivering cheaper energy bills and lower carbon emissions. We have invested more than £500 million since 2019 to transform this sector and our new package of protections will help make sure customers can access the full benefits of heat networks.” Ken Hunnisett, Heat Network Investment Project lead at Triple Point, said: “District Heating and cooling will play a significant role in the way we decarbonise our buildings in the transition to Net Zero. Until such time as the sector becomes financially self-sustaining, grant funding is often required to ensure commercially viable projects. We were thrilled to be able to support Worthing Borough Council’s goal to deliver this scheme and are excited to see Hemiko bring it to life, and build on the Council’s ambition, in the months to come.” |
Get in touch As an experienced and trusted heat network specialist, Hemiko know the importance of keeping the local community informed and keeping disruption to a minimum. Updates on the progress of the Worthing Heat Network will be available at www.hemiko.com/worthing and residents can get in touch with worthing@hemiko.com to find out more information or to provide any feedback.
Interested in a connection? Register your interest at worthing@hemiko.com |
Talk to us about your energy project
Please contact us if you have a general enquiry, a new business enquiry or a question