The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Landmark green energy scheme to get £2m boost
City residents could benefit from £63m project
A landmark scheme to pump green energy into homes in Peterborough has taken a big step forward after it received £2 million of funding.
The project is being led by Peterborough City Council which is promising that it will cut energy bills by up to a quarter and provide green heat, electricity and transport for residents in half of the city’s homes.
Hailed as the largest example of a city-wide energy system in the UK, the scheme is expected to cost £63 million in total and will deliver electricity into the city generated from the Energy Recovery Facility
plant at Fourth Drove in Fengate.
The Peterborough Integrated Renewables Infrastructure project (PIRI), as it has been named, will see the energy delivered through pipelines into city homes.
The huge venture was announced in November 2019 and it has now received £2 million of funding to begin the design process.
The council said it will work in partnership with a number of organisations including SSE Enterprise, Element Energy, Cranfield University, Smarter Grid Solutions and Sweco UK to deliver the scheme.
Outlining the proposal back in November, Cllr Marco Cereste, cabinet member for the environment at the council, said: “Potentially this could be the most exciting and innovative clean, green energy project the city has ever seen.
On Monday, he said: “This exciting announcement will give Peterborough the opportunity to use its own green, locally produced electricity and heat to benefit residents.
“It’s a landmark step in our aim to be carbon neutral by 2030 and will be the most exciting and innovative clean, green energy project the city and, indeed, the country has ever seen.”
PIRI will be part-funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Prospering from the Energy Revolution challenge.
The council said the PIRI project “aims to deliver a significant drop in CO2 emissions by 2030, whilst cutting energy bills by up to a quarter”.
Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “This innovative project in Peterborough will deliver energy savings and reduce carbon emissions – a win-win for communities and the environment.”