Vattenfall Heat UK has signed an agreement with Brent Cross South developer Argent Related to provide low carbon heating to homes, shops, and other businesses in the Brent Cross Cricklewood redevelopment scheme.

At 8MW, the district heating system will be the largest installation of its kind in the UK.

Working in collaboration with Argent Related and Barnet Council, Vattenfall will design, build and operate the district heating network over the coming decades, with a view to eventually removing all CO₂ emitting sources.

The district heating network will provide low carbon heating and hot water to 6,700 new homes and half a million square metres of new office, retail and commercial space as part of the proposed regeneration scheme. It will include 8MW of heat pumps, supplying over 80% of the total heat requirements of the site, alongside other low and zero carbon heat sources to keep the Brent Cross South site warm. Engineers are also working on a plan to use the infrastructure to cool Brent Cross South in the summer, as well as heat it in the winter.

The cutting-edge installation is expected to be operational from 2023. It will be developed to its full scale over the coming decades, building on Vattenfall’s experience in constructing and operating some of Europe’s fastest growing heat networks in cities such as Amsterdam.

Vattenfall was appointed preferred partner for the district heating infrastructure in early 2019 by Argent Related, who are developing the site in partnership with Barnet Council. The district heating solution will enable all partners to achieve its ambitious decarbonisation goals and to provide reliable and affordable heat to customers.

The system will be ‘future-proofed’ at the design phase by taking a staged approach to the installation of the heat generation infrastructure. This means that the most recent and innovative technology can be installed when it is required, as opposed to reinstalling new technology when those in use become outdated. A range of existing and future low and zero carbon heat sources will be integrated into the network to further expand it, including heat pumps, electric boilers and even waste heat from datacentres.

Adriana Rodriguez, Regional Director (South) at Vattenfall Heat UK, said: “This is a really exciting partnership with Argent Related and means we can install a state-of-the-art heat network that will deliver affordable, reliable, and low carbon heating for people in the Brent Cross South redevelopment.

“Vattenfall’s purpose is to power climate smarter living. Working with ambitious partners who share our vision and values, like Argent Related and Barnet Council, means we can make regeneration in London climate-friendly.”

Anthony Peter, COO of Brent Cross South DM, said: “Brent Cross South will be a new town centre which encourages people to thrive, leading healthier lives, and which is being designed to ambitious sustainability targets. We have chosen to work with Vattenfall to help us deliver future-proofed energy infrastructure with the aim of achieving zero carbon heating within a generation.”

Find out more about the Brent Cross South development here.