Crawley’s first District Heat Network

Phase one of Crawley’s first District Heat Network (DHN) has been completed.

The DHN, which is owned by Crawley Borough Council and operated by Pinnacle Power, comprises a flue, energy centre with combined heat and power (CHP) plant and a control room on the Town Hall redevelopment site.

It supplies heat and hot water to 91 flats in Geraint Thomas House, 37 homes in John Brackpool Close, the new Town Hall and The Create Building. It will do the same for the proposed residential development to be sited on the location of the former Town Hall.

In addition, it significantly reduces energy and carbon emissions for both the council and organisations connecting to the DHN, as generating electricity locally using a CHP plant allows waste heat to be captured and used to heat buildings or produce hot water.

The projected annual carbon savings for the DHN, compared to individual gas boilers, for the whole network over 25 years is 102 tonnes of CO2 per year.

It’s another important step towards the council meeting its carbon reduction targets – emissions reduced by at least 50 per cent and as close to net zero as possible by 2030, and to reach net zero by 2040 at the very latest.

The council is already looking towards expanding the town centre heat network and decarbonising it further. A business case for the phase two expansion of the heat network is being worked on to allow further properties across the town centre to benefit from affordable heat. The study is also focused on switching from gas to a low carbon heat source, such as air source heat pumps.

For more information on the council’s route to net zero visit our climate emergency page.