GTC is to supply energy and utility infrastructure for the 576-home Cosmeston Farm housing development in Penarth.
The scheme will exceed the Future Homes Standard and deploy GTC’s fully integrated smart home system at scale. Cosmeston Farm combines networked ground source heat pumps, smart controls and optimisation, grid flexibility services, home battery storage and GTC-owned electricity and water networks.
GTC will monitor whole-home energy use across Cosmeston Farm, capturing real-world performance data from the heat pumps, solar PV, batteries, smart controls and the local electricity network to demonstrate that the development is performing to the defined net zero carbon-in-operation target. Cardiff University will independently review real-world performance.
Oliver Novakovic, Technical & Innovation Director at developer Barratt Redrow, said: “Cosmeston represents a transformational step in how we design and build the next generation of zero-carbon communities. By working closely with GTC from the outset, we’ll be able to integrate advanced smart home technologies into the fabric of the development, ensuring our customers benefit from lower energy bills, greater comfort and long-term resilience.”
Networked ground source heat pumps from shared boreholes will provide heating and hot water. Each property will also have a Kensa Shoebox heat pump. This means the electricity network requires less grid capacity.
Home batteries and solar power will combine for greater self-consumption of renewable electricity, ability to utilise time-of-use tariffs and the ability to gain grid flexibility benefits to help reduce household bills.