September 2012: An Inside Housing article providing a brief history of district heating and what London’s emphasis on DH might point to in relation to the Government’s forthcoming heat strategy.
The article highlights that “the mayor of London’s energy team worked with all the boroughs to produce a map of the city’s heat demand and found that heating networks are best suited to dense, urban areas where lots of homes or businesses can be connected without installing lengthy pipes.” These borough heat maps and associated reports are all posted in full on the London Heat Map website.
The article also helpfully details the history and plans for growth of the Pimlico District Heating Undertaken (PDHU). Heat for this system was originally taken from Battersea Power Station, which – until the DH system came into being -simply pumped waste heat into the Thames. The article sets out that “Work began on the north side of the Thames on Churchill Gardens, a 1,600-home social housing estate. A savvy decision was made to contain all the waste heat from Battersea Power Station, pump it under the Thames and use it to heat the estate. A 132-foot glass accumulator tower was built to store extra heat until it was needed.”
Read the full article here.