Enfield Council and its district heating company, Energetik, is the first in the UK to utilise both national and regional funding for its heat network business. A total of £30m of low-cost loans and grants will be used to fund the construction of the Meridian Water energy centre and heat network; a strategic scale, low-carbon infrastructure project to support Enfield’s regeneration scheme at Meridian Water, as well as its commitment to help tackle the climate emergency.
The Meridian Water heat network will be truly strategic in scale, eventually supplying over 15,000 homes and businesses with very low carbon heat and hot water. Using waste heat from the Edmonton EcoPark, connected buildings will see a reduction in their carbon footprint for space heating and hot water of up to 92.3% compared with traditional fossil fuel alternatives.
The company has already received positive recognition in industry as an example of best practice in the development of its heat networks, from its strict technical standards to its progressive approach to customer service. Customers are at the forefront of every decision Energetik makes and this approach has firmly established it as one of the forerunners in this rapidly expanding industry. This “first of its kind” funding strategy firmly endorses its commitment to doing what is right for its customers and the environment, as opposed to doing what is easy.
The Meridian Water Heat Network is part of a £6 billion regeneration programme led by Enfield Council. The district heat network will replace traditional forms of heating by supplying heat and hot water through a network of new highly insulated underground pipes. This method of energy supply is a proven technology to help reduce the amount of carbon emissions generated in heating homes, with the benefit of being fuel agnostic, so it will be able to utilise on any future low carbon or renewable heat sources as and when they become available.
The funding package consists of £15m from The Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund (‘MEEF’), managed by Amber Fund Management Limited (‘Amber’) with matched funding from the Heat Networks Investment Project (‘HNIP’), managed by Triple Point on behalf of the Department of Business, Energy & industrial Strategy (‘BEIS’). Energetik’s project will be the first in the UK to match HNIP and MEEF funds, and to date this allocation is the largest under the HNIP scheme.
The Network is forecast to save around 250,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide when compared to gas-fired heating, which is the equivalent of over 20,000 London buses or the planting of over half a million trees. It will help to improve the quality of London’s air by avoiding the need for additional local energy generation. This will reduce the amount of nitrous oxides released into the atmosphere by 1,600kg per annum from 2026 onwards. This innovative approach supports Enfield Council in delivering its Climate Emergency plans.
The site preparation works have commenced with construction due to commence later this year. First customers on the Meridian Water heat network are expected in 2022, with later phases being connected as they complete. Energetik has ambitions to extend and connect as many developments as possible in the future, in order to maximise the benefit of the low-carbon heat source, potentially doubling its current forecasts to serve over 30,000 customers.
Enfield’s leader, Cllr Nesil Caliskan said:
“It is estimated that one in 11 households in Enfield is classed as fuel poor. That equates to a lot of families who are severely impacted by being unable to live in warm, dry homes. The low-carbon energy infrastructure provided by Energetik supports the delivery of much-needed new homes in the borough and demonstrates the Council’s commitment to sustaining strong, healthy communities and helping to build the local economy.”
Energetik’s Managing Director, Jayne Clare, said:
“Heat networks are recognised as an essential part of our future clean energy infrastructure to tackle the climate emergency our planet is facing. Being a locally owned energy company means we can operate differently to private-sector equivalents. We share the same values as the Council to improve Enfield for the long term by investing in infrastructure now that will reduce the borough’s carbon footprint over the long-term. The MEEF and HNIP match funding allows us to make a modest return, which can be re-invested locally to expand the network and thereby tackle the climate emergency across the borough as well as providing, reliable, low carbon, better value heat to our customers.”
Peter Radford, Investment Director, Amber Infrastructure:
“We are delighted to be supporting the delivery of the Meridian Water Heat Network, one of the most ambitious and innovative heat networks in the UK. We hope to see further investments by MEEF in the local authority sector in the coming months as we continue to support councils to deliver their climate emergency plans”
Ken Hunnisett, Project Director, Triple Point Heat Networks Investment Management:
“Heat networks form an important part of the Government’s plan to decarbonise heating particularly in cities and high-density areas. The Heat Networks Investment Project was established to help ambitious schemes like the Meridian Water Heat Network hasten the delivery of affordable low carbon heating to the homes and businesses it will serve throughout the Lea Valley. We are delighted to be supporting this scheme and look forward to working with the Energetik team as the network develops.”
Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy:
“It’s great to see another low-carbon district energy project get the green light through the Mayor’s Energy Efficiency Fund. The Meridian Water Heat Network will provide hot water and heating to homes from local waste heat sources. Cutting emissions through district energy projects like this is vital as we tackle the twin dangers of London’s toxic air pollution and the climate emergency.
Projects like Meridian Water and others funded through the Mayor’s Energy Efficiency Fund will have a key role to play in London’s green and sustainable recovery from COVID-19, as well as providing new job opportunities in the district energy sector.”
Mark Cumbo, Director, Specialised & Project Finance at Santander UK:
“We are delighted to support the GLA, the Mayor of London and Amber Infrastructure to help fund this ambitious low carbon project in Enfield. The project demonstrates MEEF’s ambition to help fast track London towards a zero-carbon city by 2050 and clearly aligns with our ongoing commitments to the wider community and stakeholders.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Energetik
Energetik is Enfield Council’s energy company, set to supply over 15,000 homes and businesses in North London with low carbon heat through a series of community heat networks. With a company vision to revolutionise the local energy market and be the supplier to trust, Energetik’s heat networks will provide better value energy that’s reliable and environmentally friendly.
The networks are being rolled out in key regeneration areas of Enfield and are designed to adapt so they can expand to supply more homes and businesses and utilise different heat sources as they become available. For more information about Energetik please visit our website at: www.energetik.london
About MEEF
MEEF was advised by Addleshaw Goddard (legal), Verco Advisory Services
(technical) and Osborne Clarke state aid) Santander, one of MEEF’s funders for this investment, was advised by Trowers & Hamlins (legal).
MEEF was established by the GLA in 2018 and is managed by Amber Infrastructure. MEEF provides senior debt, mezzanine debt or equity to London’s public-sector property owners and small-to-medium-sized businesses, including but not exclusively, Local Authorities, NHS Trusts, Registered Providers, Higher and Further Education organisations, Charities and Voluntary Organisations, ESCOs and SMEs. MEEF is funded in part by the European Regional Development Fund.
About Amber Infrastructure Group
Amber Infrastructure (‘Amber’) is a specialist international
investment manager, focused on investment origination, asset management and fund management. With over £8 billion of assets managed, Amber invests in eight countries internationally across six funds and a number of managed accounts. Amber’s core business focuses on sourcing, developing, advising, investing in and managing infrastructure assets across the public, transport, energy, digital and demographic infrastructure sectors that support the lives of people, homes and businesses internationally.
Amber is headquartered in London with offices in Europe, North America and Australia and employs approximately 130 infrastructure professionals.
About the European Regional Development Fund
MEEF is receiving up to £43 million of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
For further information, please contact [email protected]
