The London Borough of Brent aims to supply heat to over 30 buildings, including ~2,600 dwellings, two schools and multiple commercial buildings in South Kilburn through a district heat network.
A district heat network involves hot water being pumped from an energy centre. This is a more efficient way of producing heat and hot water.
Heat will be supplied from centralised energy centres located on Puffin House in Unity Place and Hereford and Exeter, situated opposite each other on the corner of Cambridge Road and Carlton Vale and fitted with Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs). ASHPs will provide low carbon and affordable heat to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and will supply heat through 2.7km of a distributing buried pipe network.
Current timescales
Through an open procurement process, the Council is seeking a contractor to design, build, operate and maintain the ‘South Kilburn District Heat Network’ (SKDHN) to serve the South Kilburn regeneration area. It is anticipated that the contractor will be appointed in Spring 2025 and works are expected to start in Spring 2026.
The heat generating plant and distributing network to the heat exchangers in each building supplied with heat and hot water will be fully owned by Brent Council.
Residents will pay for their home’s heat and hot water metered consumption to their building managers or a contractor acting for their building managers.