Ener-Vate - Mersey Heat

Mersey Heat is Liverpool’s low-carbon district heating network, centred on a new Energy Centre at Liverpool Waters. Delivered by Peel Group with specialist Ener-Vate, and designed and built by Vital Energi, it captures natural warmth from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal using one of the UK’s largest two-stage water source heat pumps, supplied by Star Refrigeration. The heat is upgraded and distributed through a 6km network of insulated underground pipes to homes, offices, hotels and public buildings. The system is open-loop so canal water is drawn in, its heat captured, then returned. The Energy Centre is modular, so capacity grows as demand rises, with thermal stores and backup boilers for peak periods.

Mersey Heat supplies 20GWh of low-carbon heat and hot water a year - enough for up to 6,700 homes and 1.3 million sq ft of commercial space. First connectors included No. 8, No. 10 and No. 12 Princes Dock, the Titanic Hotel, Tobacco Warehouse and Torus Housing’s Hartley Locks. The Cunard Building, George’s Dock Building and Museum of Liverpool have committed to join as the network expands south.

Backed by £7.5m from the Heat Networks Investment Project, the scheme cuts around 4,200 tonnes of carbon annually. Planning permission allows expansion to 45GWh, equivalent to heating 17,000 new homes.