The Future Homes Standards, set out by the UK government, will ban the installation of fossil fuel heating in new buildings from 2025. However, Kensa Utilities' Heat the Streets project has enabled progressive developers to get ahead of the game and install highly efficient, renewable heating now.
Furthermore, as Kensa Utilities is paying for the ground array infrastructure through Heat the Streets, developers can install ground source heat pumps in their developments for less than the costs of air source heating.
Although air source heat pumps cost less to install than ground source, they can suffer corrosion damage at coastal locations such as Carlyon Bay, this increases maintenance costs and reduces the lifespan of the equipment. These new apartments will benefit from ground source heat pumps, which are located inside away from the elements. Better yet, the heat pumps are manufactured by a Cornish company just 20 miles from site.
On hand to witness the installations was Cornwall Councillor for Mevagissey and St Austell Bay; James Mustoe. After learning of the project, Councillor Mustoe was keen to learn more about how Kensa's work on Heat the Streets could provide a decarbonisation solution for heating across the rest of the county. Following his visit Councillor Mustoe said: "I was pleased to meet the team from Kensa and see their innovative project in Carlyon Bay.
"The Heat the Streets initiative is an excellent one and it was useful to hear more about the benefits of ground source heat pumps as an energy supply method that will be critical to help the country achieve its green energy goals for the future.
"It is good to see Kensa working with a range of properties across Cornwall, New and old, private, and social rent, to showcase the flexibility of the ground source heat pump and the ease in which it can be installed and then left in situ. I look forward to seeing this work continue as a viable option for a greener and cleaner energy future for Cornwall."
Heat the Streets will soon enter its most ambitious phase; street-by-street retrofit of ground source heat pumps in the Cornish village of Stithians. Kensa Utilities is replacing existing heating systems in the village with efficient Cornish-made heat pumps - with no upfront costs to the homeowners.
Under Kensa's split-ownership funding model households will pay a standing charge to Kensa Utilities for the use of the ground array. Ground source heat pumps do not require annual maintenance and only use 1kW of electricity for every 3kW of heat produced (3.5 times more efficient than a gas boiler) so the cost of ownership will remain low for households benefitting from this project.
Kensa Utilities' director of business development, Lisa Treseder said: "The ground array infrastructure serving ground source heat pumps has a lifespan of around 100 years making it ideal for split ownership and long-term investment. The ground array represents over a third of the cost of a ground source heating system. By splitting out this system cost, Kensa will make ground source heating more accessible to British households. We hope that this infrastructure will eventually take the place of the UK's gas network."
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