University secures heat grant

THE UNIVERSITY of Reading has been given £100,000 by the Government to help decarbonise its heating systems.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) awarded the funding, which will be matched by the University to support design work to introduce a large heat pump into the Whiteknights Energy Centre.

The Energy Centre, which opened in 2015, heats 16 buildings on the Whiteknights campus through a 3.3km underground district heating network.

Its original design included space for low carbon technology in the future.

By adding a 1.1 megawatt heat pump, this could provide up to 40% of the Energy Centre’s heat output each year.

It would cut carbon emissions by more than 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide cumulatively by 2030.

This will be complemented other initiatives, such as insulation and control system improvements.

The development of a small district cooling network will also be considered for the University’s science buildings.

Dan Fernbank, energy and sustainability director at the University said: “Decarbonising our heating systems is a key part of our plans to reach net zero carbon by 2030.

“This grant will enable us to progress a very significant opportunity to begin decarbonising our campus heating, setting us on the right path for the years ahead.”

This is the fifth major grant the University has secured since November 2020, in pursuit of its Net Zero Carbon goal for 2030. A further-BEIS funded project is currently looking at opportunities to replace gas heating on the Earley Gate side of Whiteknights campus.