Heat from London Underground tunnels will be piped into 500 Islington homes, in a pioneering £3.7m project that could extend to the rest of London.
Islington Council announced that it is to expand Bunhill Heat and Power network’s greener energy initiative on Friday 22 November. The initiative partially heats 700 homes around Old Street already, and has cut residents’ energy prices by 10 percent.
Hot air will be taken from the Northern Line and a sub-station under City Road by a vent, and pass through the £4.2m Bunhill Energy Centre on Central Street, where it will be converted and used to heat radiators.
The project will also reduce the level of CO2 emissions in the area, with a potential decrease of 500 tonnes each year.
Richard Watts, leader of Islington Council, said: “With energy prices going up and up, it’s vital we do what we can to cut bills.
“Last winter was one of the coldest for decades and record energy prices meant many families on fixed incomes spent it in misery, unsure whether to heat or eat,” he said.
Heat from the tube could be heating homes by 2016, with the EU awarding the scheme £1m. The council is funding the rest of the cost, and is working in partnership with the Mayor of London, UK Power Networks and Transport for London.
Jenny Thomas, a resident of Central Street, said: “I think it’s a good idea to regenerate heat, but the main solution should be to provide better insulation for homes.”
Caroline Russell, a campaigner for Islington’s Green Party, echoed the idea of supplying homes across the borough with better insulation in order to conserve energy. “As fuel prices are rocketing, the obvious thing for the council to do is to provide homes with double glazed windows and internal wall insulation.”
But Ms Russell has welcomed the idea to locally source energy. “It makes absolute sense. It’s thrifty, it helps people and it’s sensible.”
A spokesman for the fuel poverty charity, National Energy Action, also praised the project. “Islington is one of the few councils that is prioritising fuel poverty as an issue. It’s good that this investment is being made, despite the council’s limited means.”
If it proves successful, the scheme could be rolled out across London. UK Power Network’s Martin Wilcox said: “There could be potential to replicate this and increase access to low carbon, low cost energy in other parts of the capital.”
