Sewage to be heat source
Work is underway on a £6 million project which will use advanced technology to obtain heat from sewage water.
As revealed in the Observer in October last year, an energy centre is to be established at Stirling Waste Water Treatment Works in Forthside.
Heat captured from the process will be used in that area although there may be scope to expand the scheme to homes and businesses across the city and use it to tackle fuel poverty.
Stirling Council and Scottish Water Horizons (SWH) have invested £1 million and £3 million respectively in the project and £2 million has come from the Scottish Government’s low carbon infrastructure transition programme. It is part-funded by the EC’s European Regional Development Fund.
SWH will own and operate the energy centre and sell the heat to Stirling Council. The council will then sell it on to users via the heating network.
Initially the heat will be distributed to the Peak, Forthbank, St Modan’s High, Robertson Trust Barracks Development, Moray House, Jubilee House and, if it goes ahead, Stirling Council’s proposed new office development near Forthside Bridge.
Stirling company FES has won both contracts for the project and work is expected to be completed by April 2019.
A council spokesman said it would be the first time in the UK that a combined heat and power (CHP) unit had been used with waste water to deliver energy for a district heat network.
The CHP will deliver electricity to power the waste treatment site and combine with technology designed to recover heat from Scottish Water’s waste water system, providing hot water.
Biogas, currently a waste product, will be stored for use in the heating network.
The council’s environment convener Jim Thomson said: “Our partnership with Scottish Water Horizons will deliver costsaving benefits to the council and residents, generate additional income for many years to come and benefit communities in the form of regeneration and jobs in the growing renewables sector.”
Scottish Water Horizons’ Paul Kerr said: “Once up and running, this innovative mix of technologies will significantly help the council meet low-carbon targets while benefitting the community and protecting the environment.”
The council’s Conservative group leader Neil Benny said: “I am pleased that this project, that began life a few years ago, is moving towards being able to deliver the benefits we all expect to see.
“It is a significant investment but there is an opportunity to provide heating in a sustainable way at an affordable price.
“We must make sure it delivers on that.”