logo
Wolverhampton estate to get new multi-million pound heat network

Wolverhampton estate to get new multi-million pound heat network

BBC News26-03-2025
A council has secured £8m from the government towards installing a new heat network on a city estate, which it says will reduce energy costs for over 1,000 residents.All of the properties on the Heath Town Estate in Wolverhampton are supplied with heat via an "outdated" district heating network.City of Wolverhampton Council said it was first installed around 55 years ago and has undergone minor upgrades since.The estate's existing boiler house was designed to use coal and is "no longer fit for purpose", according to the council, with its concrete panelling "starting to fail".
Works on the new heat network are expected to start in April and last for two years.The funding for the work has come from the government's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero as part of its heat network efficiency scheme.It will contribute towards the £19.5m works, with the remainder coming from the council's Housing Revenue Account programme.The council said the new system would improve efficiency through reduced primary energy consumption, network return temperature and pumping energy costs, following upgrades to the network's control systems, replacement of pumps and pipework, and the installation of new heat interface units for residents.Deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for city housing, councillor Steve Evans, said: "The council's transformative regeneration of Heath Town has seen extensive demolition of vacant buildings followed by 40 new council homes – the first developed on the estate since the 1960s."This is just the first phase of a total of more than 150 new council homes to be built on the estate over the coming years – and is in addition to existing residential blocks undergoing major improvements by Wolverhampton Homes. All new homes will be connected to the district heating system."It is important the right infrastructure is in place to support this rejuvenated neighbourhood and this funding from government will enable us to put in place a heat network that is fit for purpose and ultimately reduces energy costs for residents."
Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Labour's net-zero ‘flight tax' set to raise cost of family holiday
Labour's net-zero ‘flight tax' set to raise cost of family holiday

Telegraph

time7 hours ago

  • Telegraph

Labour's net-zero ‘flight tax' set to raise cost of family holiday

Labour's 'flight tax' on airlines will add more than £50 to the cost of a family holiday within a decade, analysis shows. Net zero rules introduced by Sir Keir Starmer mean planes must be filled with at least 2 per cent sustainable fuel, which will rise to 10 per cent followed by 22 per cent by 2040. The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandate means airlines that do not comply with the green policy face heavy fines likely to be passed on in part to passengers. Costs associated with the new levy are expected to reach £4.5 billion by 2035, according to a new analysis by Public First. This works out at £12.79 per passenger per flight leaving the UK, adding £51.16 to the average overseas holiday taken by a family of four. The impact of the policy is expected to hit Britons as soon as 2027, with its cost hitting £200 million in that year. 'Ludicrous net stupid zero' By 2030, this figure will have ballooned to £1.5 million, the equivalent to £4.64 per passenger per flight – making a holiday for a family of four £18.56 more expensive. Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, told The Telegraph: 'This is yet another egregious tax on working citizens to pay for the ludicrous net stupid zero. A Reform government will scrap all this nonsense.' Greg Smith, a Tory transport minister, said: 'Labour said the transition to green aviation would cost pennies but now families are being hit with soaring ticket prices to fund Ed Miliband's net zero experiment. 'It's not just weekend getaways being priced out. It's regional airports under threat, tourism on the ropes, and British families paying the price for Labour's ideological fantasy. 'The truth is net zero by 2050 is impossible without bankrupting our country and Labour's plan to chase it will ground British families before it ever lands.' 80pc cost could be passed to consumers The Government's own impact assessment of the green mandate found that as much as 80 per cent of its cost could be passed on to consumers. Labour claims the pledge to use more sustainable fuel will support thousands of jobs while cutting the UK's transport emissions on the way to becoming a 'clean energy superpower'. The figures come as ministers were urged to relax red tape that means SAF cannot currently be made from non-food grade British-grown wheat. Phil New led the Government's independent review into the future of SAF and urged it to consider British bioethanol as a credible and scalable option. Mr New said: 'Ethanol made from British-grown milling wheat, which would otherwise be exported as animal feed, can be processed into SAF in a way that meets the emissions reductions required by the UK's standards. 'Home-grown, low-carbon aviation fuel industry' 'This is a real opportunity to create a home-grown, low-carbon aviation fuel industry that supports British agriculture, strengthens fuel security and helps us meet our climate ambitions.' Ben Hackett, managing director at Vivergo Fuels, added: 'The UK has the capability today to produce sustainable aviation fuel from home-grown non-food grade wheat – supporting British farmers, reducing carbon emissions, and improving our energy security. But outdated regulations are blocking this from happening. 'It makes no sense that ethanol from British wheat can be blended into petrol for cars, but not used to make jet fuel, especially when other countries are already moving ahead with this technology.' The analysis by Public First also found the UK could require the output of seven large-scale bioethanol plants by 2035 to meet growing domestic demand for SAF.

Clean energy subsidies should be replaced with ‘market-based incentives' from 2030, Productivity Commission says
Clean energy subsidies should be replaced with ‘market-based incentives' from 2030, Productivity Commission says

The Guardian

time9 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Clean energy subsidies should be replaced with ‘market-based incentives' from 2030, Productivity Commission says

The Productivity Commission says clean energy subsidy programs should not be extended beyond 2030, and that 'market-based incentives' should guide investment in the clean energy transition over the coming decades. The commission's interim report on investing in cheaper, cleaner energy and the net zero transformation is one of five which will be released over two weeks and which set out a series of reforms to reinvigorate Australia's productivity. Commissioner Barry Sterland said 'Australia's net zero transformation is well under way'. 'Getting the rest of the way at the lowest possible cost is central to our productivity challenge,' he said. The commission stopped short of repeating previous recommendations for a broad price on carbon. But it advocated for a significant expansion of the safeguard mechanism, which sets emission limits for only the heaviest polluters, by slashing the threshold from 100,000 tonnes to 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year. Sign up: AU Breaking News email Chris Bowen, the climate change and energy minister, last week announced an increase in taxpayer subsidies available for green energy projects under its successful capacity investment scheme (CIS). The CIS and the government's other clean energy subsidy scheme, the renewable energy target, do not extend beyond 2030, and the commission argued that the two programs should be replaced with 'market-based incentives in the electricity sector'. The commission also said the implementation of the new vehicle efficiency standard meant federal and state governments should phase out specific concessions for electric vehicles, including on fringe benefits tax, stamp duties and registration fees. A new emissions-reduction incentive for heavy vehicles should also be introduced, the commission said. The commission said it takes too long to develop green energy infrastructure and there are deep concerns that the government will not reach its 2030 climate targets, which include 82% of energy production from renewable sources. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The report called for an overhaul of how green energy projects are assessed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, to allow decision-makers to consider whether a project is important to Australia's clean energy transition. Martin Stokie, a commissioner who is leading the inquiry alongside Sterland, said Australia's 'sluggish and uncertain approval processes are not up to the task' of delivering the huge amount of clean energy infrastructure needed to meet national climate targets. 'Overdue reforms to the EPBC Act would both speed up approvals and better protect the environment,' he said. The environment minister, Murray Watt, is reviewing the act as part of a new package of federal nature laws, which were shelved before the election after lobbying from mining companies and the Western Australian government. The commission also made a series of recommendations to build the country's resilience to the effects of climate change. The interim report called on the commonwealth to lead development of a public database of all climate hazards, and a series of goals and policies to improve the resilience of houses. Notably, the commission backed a climate resilience star-rating system that would reflect the potential damage from climate change. 'People's experience of climate change will depend on the resilience of their home, but most lack the information they need to invest in upgrades,' Sterland said. 'As climate risks intensify, boosting our resilience can lower the costs of disaster recovery and create a healthier, safer and more productive Australia.' The commission will now consult on its draft recommendations before the final report due at the end of this year.

The British public deserves to know what Miliband discussed with Beijing
The British public deserves to know what Miliband discussed with Beijing

Telegraph

time16 hours ago

  • Telegraph

The British public deserves to know what Miliband discussed with Beijing

When the Government signed a deal on net-zero co-operation with Canada, the text of the memorandum was published. So too were the texts of deals with Ireland, Norway, South Korea and Chile. Five months after the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband signed a similar memorandum with the Chinese government, however, we are still in the dark as to precisely what was agreed. Chinese media have asserted that the Energy Secretary agreed to co-operation on power grids, battery storage, offshore wind power and carbon capture, among other areas; it is understood that Chinese investment in the UK was not discussed by Mr Miliband. The role of the Chinese state in Britain's net-zero ambitions may well be an uncomfortable issue for the Labour Government to discuss. While the Defence Secretary is insisting that Britain is 'ready to fight' over the future of Taiwan and the Foreign Secretary is explicitly referring to China as a 'sophisticated and persistent threat' that requires hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding for the intelligence services, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been courting Chinese investment, and Mr Miliband's drive to meet his net-zero targets is heavily dependent on Chinese industry. Both the switch to electric vehicles and the decarbonisation of the energy grid will make heavy use of Chinese products. One study commissioned by the German defence ministry recently warned that this position at the heart of Western energy systems could result in Beijing enjoying the power to trigger remote shut-downs as 'an instrument of economic warfare'. Such concerns are less hypothetical than we might wish. Earlier this year, undocumented communication devices were located in Chinese-made power inverters exported to the United States, triggering fears that Beijing could use compromised equipment to 'physically destroy the grid'. This would be fully in line with the current approach of the People's Liberation Army to warfare as a clash between systems, and the extensive Volt Typhoon operation carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors. Even given the understandable desire to avoid a sudden break with China, the delicacy of the balance between trade and reliance is such that the British public deserves to know what Mr Miliband has discussed with Beijing.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store