Leeds City Council is leading a feasibility study into an innovative methodology for deploying high-density domestic heat pumps in urban communities, in line with the UK Government’s ambition of installing 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.
The Heat Pump Ready projects will focus on street-by-street installations of heat pump technology in high-density urban areas, like Leeds, in an effort to demonstrate a tangible pathway for a rapid transition to renewable energy that can be rolled out across other areas of the UK.
Leeds council said low-carbon projects are often demonstrated in social housing, the result being rows of renovated properties broken up by private households that were not able to take part. The area selected in Leeds has private homes currently on the gas network and is made up of a wide range of house types, including older and densely-packed Victorian terraced properties.
The partnership, led by Leeds City Council, consists of Arup, Kensa Contracting Ltd, Parity Projects, University of Leeds, Leeds Sustainability Institute, Otley Energy, Legal & General, Northern Powergrid, and IRT Survey Ltd.
It has £200k of funding from BEIS for the feasibility study. If successful it will lead to an application for further £9 million of funding to trial the innovative methodology.
Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council executive member for Infrastructure and Climate said: “Leeds is already enjoying the benefits of low carbon heat pumps in dozens of our schools and council buildings and therefore it is fantastic that this project aims to help unleash this technology in our urban communities too.
“With global gas prices continuing to rise and the planet heating up, projects like this one have never felt more important.”