Thousands of council tenants will soon receive more affordable energy thanks to the first partnership of its kind where the public and private sectors have worked together to tackle fuel poverty.
MITIE, the outsourcing and energy services company, has partnered with Camden Council, in north west London, to provide surplus heat from its new energy plant at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.
The surplus heat from the hospital plant will be piped to a new energy centre in the Gospel Oak area of Camden to provide hot water and heat to residents. As a result, up to 1,500 council home tenants will benefit from the Council’s ability to procure energy at a much cheaper rate than would otherwise be available to the council commercially.
In addition, Camden Council, which has a borough-wide target to reduce carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2020, expects to save at least 2,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. This is the equivalent to insulating 4,000 typical semi-detached homes.
Mike Tivey, Managing Director of MITIE’s Asset Management business, said: “I am extremely proud of MITIE’s role in bringing everyone together and making this all possible. This scheme is revenue generating for the hospital and provides cheaper energy for Camden’s local residents, enabling MITIE to make a contribution to the local community. In short, it’s a perfect example of how the public and private sector can work together at a time of increasing budgetary constraint.”
MITIE is working closely with Camden Council to ensure that residents are kept informed about the project.
Cllr Sean Birch, Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Transport said: “This is an innovative, win-win scheme which not only saves costs for those who need it most, but allows us to be more sustainable at the same time. I’m delighted to see the public and private sectors work together in such an effective way to help reduce our carbon emissions and benefit our community.”
MITIE’s Asset Management business has developed and will operate the Royal Free Hospital’s energy plant throughout its 15 year lifetime, saving the hospital more than £13 million. The plant will save 18 per cent in carbon emissions over this period – approximately 93,000 tonnes of CO2.