Published: Wednesday, 26th May 2021
Drilling rigs began sinking the bore holes for ground source heat pumps to be installed at the borough council depot this week.
The environmentally friendly heating system is being installed at several Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk buildings thanks to decarbonisation grants worth more than £3.8M. Two grants have been awarded by the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and are from the Government’s £1 billion Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) fund.
Cllr Paul Kunes, Cabinet member with responsibilities for carbon reduction at the borough council, said: “This work is important for decarbonising the council's buildings. We want to take a lead on this initiative for others to follow. By using a renewable resource to generate heat this helps to save carbon that would usually be emitted by burning gas or oil. Ultimately, switching to a renewable heating system allows for a reduction in the council's carbon footprint, especially when coupled with renewable electricity generation from solar panels which will also be installed by the end of September.
“The drills will bore down into the ground 196 metres. The reduction in carbon emissions from the overall project is estimated at a total of 494 tonnes per year. This is really exciting news and means a very big step forward in the council's aim to become carbon neutral as soon as possible.”
The project will also start the process of installing heat pumps at other sites including Alive Lynnsport, South Lynn Community Centre, and Alive Oasis in Hunstanton over the next month.
The scheme is part of the council’s ongoing Re:Fit programme, as it seeks to remove carbon from its existing stock of buildings. The borough council will be working with our Re:Fit partners, Ameresco, to deliver the 100% grant funded project.