On Monday 2 September, Brent Cross Town announced significant grant funding by The Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) to support the delivery of the future town’s sustainable heat network.

To address some of the challenges in the UK’s heat sector, the GHNF is a grant from the Government Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which helps developments across the UK install low and zero carbon heat (and cooling) networks.

This £14 million funding will not only support Brent Cross Town’s commitment to being a net zero town by 2030, but will also contribute to Barnet Council’s wider goal of being a net zero borough by 2042.

This funding will enable low carbon heat to be generated through a fully electric energy centre at Brent Cross Town and supply all 6,700 homes, and commercial and leisure buildings that are currently being built. The network will also meet the town’s demand of 30MW of heat and 20MW of cooling peak capacities, to control the energy levels in a sustainable way.

As well as providing affordable low carbon heat to residents and visitors of the neighbourhood, this project is expected to create 121 new long-term jobs, whilst supporting a range of new apprentices.

Barnet Council Cabinet Member for Environment & Climate Change, and Cricklewood Ward Member, Councillor Alan Schneiderman, commented: “Investing in green infrastructure and much needed employment and skills in the borough plays a vital role in tackling the climate emergency and the Green Heat Network Funding plays a key part in delivering our ambitious net zero carbon neighbourhood Brent Cross Town.”

The electricity will be supplied and operated by Swedish energy company Vattenfall through the bright and colourful substation, which was unveiled in January 2023.

Alina Gheorghiu-Currie, Director of Heat Networks – London at Vattenfall Heat UK said: “We’re pleased to be working with Related Argent and Barnet Council to deliver low carbon heating, hot water and cooling to the Brent Cross Town community, supporting local jobs and apprenticeships.”

André Gibbs, Executive Director at Related Argent, added: “The Green Heat Network Fund allocated to Brent Cross Town will help make our ambition to achieve low carbon district heating across the whole of the development a reality. This will also include low carbon cooling to offices in the 25,000-workspace business and innovation district. When complete, Brent Cross Town will have one of the largest fully electric energy centres in Europe, developed in partnership with Vattenfall. This network points to the future of how the UK can provide clean energy to its towns and cities on the path to net zero.”

This announcement is welcomed by Barnet Council, which has an ambition to become a net zero council by 2030, and a net zero borough by 2042. To help achieve this, Barnet Council launched a borough-wide campaign last year called BarNET ZERO. The campaign was designed to bring residents, communities, and businesses on the borough’s journey to Net Zero, through advice, information and support. Keep an eye out for the next steps of the campaign and how you can get involved.

Find out more about sustainability across the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration programme here.