Homes powered by Baked Beans could be part of Greater Manchester’s future

EnergiRaven, a UK-based green energy transition consultancy, is pitching to council bosses to introduce a network of pipes across the region. These would take captured heat from different sources and transport it to people’s homes potentially cutting down on people’s energy bills by up to 38 per cent.

Nicknamed the ‘Bee Network for Heat’, the project could link homes across all ten boroughs in Greater Manchester providing heat to thousands. It is based of a publicly-owned model that has been running in Denmark for decades.

A map of the network suggests sources of the heat could come from the Baked Beans factory in Wigan, a bread factory near Bolton, various data centres, a number of different industries, wastewater and sewage treatment works, and the Carrington Power Plant. Another map also suggested Kellogg’s plant near Stretford, heat from mine water near Oldham, and Asda’s distribution centre in Rochdale.

At an event on September 30, the we heard a data centre in Heywood could heat the equivalent of 50,000 homes.

According to EnergiRaven, enough heat could exist across the region to cover 85% of the regions needs and cut down on household bills by 38%. Over 20 years, they say a heat network could save £8.83bn.

At the moment, EnergiRaven say heating costs are currently around 8.7p/kWh but this could fall to 5.4p. While gas heating costs in the UK shot up by £1273, it only rose by £271 in Denmark where homes are part of a district heating network.

Those behind the scheme say it will protect homes from energy shocks caused by the wars in Iran and Ukraine by tapping into a UK-energy source. Though the scheme will come at a cost, the UK spent £39.3 billion between October 2022 and March 2023 to subsidise energy costs.

While smaller-scale heat networks are being planned in areas like Oldham and Trafford, EnergiRaven’s idea is on a much bigger scale similar to one being developed in London. One scheme in Denmark helps heat 115,000 homes and there are plans for 75km network being developed.

Adam Fabricius from EnergiRaven said the Danish model did not make profits but there was still an incentive to be efficient and keep costs lower due to the public ownership of the heating network. By sourcing heat from a number of sources, that helps any operator mitigate and avoid the shocks seen with natural gas.

Asked why local leaders should support the idea, he said: “What other choice do they have? We are at a point where we have to do something.”

Pointing to USA President Donald Trump, rising diesel prices, and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, he added: “Are we going to keep thinking that things are going to get better because then we are just living in a la-la-land?

“We can’t be at the whim of someone’s mood or some geopolitical event. For us, it’s British heat for British homes.

“It’s waste not, want not. Let’s just use what we have. In Denmark, you have combined heat and power.

“They may still use gas to produce electricity but the heat that is produced as a by-product they use in the heat network. In the UK we don’t do that. We just sent that into the atmosphere.”

He added: “Denmark has run a 50-year long experiment. They did gas zones and heat network zones.

“Now they can look back and say the heat network zones are actually providing more stable, affordable, lower cost heat than the gas zones. The last bastion of gas is getting decommissioned and they are changing it to heat.”

Minister for Local Energy and Jobs Martin McCluskey said: “Clean power and clean heat benefits communities across our country. Building the infrastructure to deliver it is re-industrialising the UK and rolling out cutting-edge energy technology so families can benefit from lower bills, good jobs and energy security.

“And for those already using heat networks, we are upgrading inefficient systems to make sure people get the high-quality, low-cost, reliable heating they deserve.”

The UK Government is currently allocating £195m per year to support the development and construction of new low carbon heat networks in England and Wales. This includes Greater Manchester.