Innovative heating system installed in Glasgow’s East End

The state-of-the-art district heating network at the Clyde Gateway site in Glasgow’s East End broke ground in 2020, following £2.1 million funding from SP Energy Networks’ Green Economy Fund. Now complete, it will provide instant heating and hot water to residents and businesses.

What is the Clyde Gateway project?

As Scotland’s first Green Regeneration Innovation District (GRID), the £6.1 million Clyde Gateway project will heat homes and businesses using the new system and will allow people to live and work in a greener and more resilient community by removing the need for individual properties to house gas boilers.

Initially 48 homes and Clyde Gateway’s new low carbon EastWorks offices, which repurposes former gaswork buildings, will be connected to the district heating network with plans to connect over 300 homes and commercial businesses over the coming years.

Clyde Gateway’s GRID project was selected by the Department for International Trade to become one of a few select Scottish projects for the launch of its new Investment Atlas.

How does it work?

The system they will share has been designed using a mix of heat from waste water technology alongside a combined heat and power engine (CHP) to be considerably more efficient than conventional heating and will help to combat fuel poverty by reducing energy bills.

The project has been developed in partnership with Scottish Water Horizons, a commercial subsidiary of Scottish Water, with energy generated by the system used to power their Dalmarnock Waste Water Treatment Works. The waste heat generated by this process will be captured and stored to use throughout the network to sustainably supply heating and hot water for homes and businesses through 3km of underground pipework.

The network benefits from the addition of two 100kw heat pumps which capture and amplify the natural heat found in wastewater. These pumps extract heat energy from the final effluent at the treatment works, adding additional resilience and capacity to the network whilst contributing to the green credentials of the project.

Transformative

Ian Manson, chief executive of Clyde Gateway, said: “We are extremely proud to be Scotland’s first Green Regeneration Innovation District (GRID) and this new sustainable district heating system places Clyde Gateway as one of Scotland’s leading energy efficiency and sustainability sites, benefitting hundreds of homes and businesses. This incredible 3km-long underground project is just as important to the ongoing regeneration of Glasgow’s East End as any of the transformative above ground projects that have taken place over the past decade.”