Power to the people

The Homes and Communities Agency announced the second set of successful bidders for the Low Carbon Infrastructure cash yesterday. The money will help pay for green, affordable, community-scale heat and energy projects.

When energy is produced in a conventional power station, about 60 per cent of the result escapes as heat. In locally based power stations, such as combined heat and power plant, that energy is recaptured and used to heat people’s homes. In a world of limited fossil fuels, often to be found in unstable countries, it makes sense to make the most of the resources we have, while trying to find new sources such as renewable power.

The largest pot of cash is going to Greenwich, £3 million for a number of schemes that will eventually hook up 10,000 homes to a London-wide heat network. The Rowner estate in Gosport is getting £1.2 million to plug 700 new homes into a combined heat and power plant.

In total, £21 million has been announced for local energy projects – added to the £84 million for social landlords to improve 130,000 homes with cavity wall insulation, and we should see thousands of people lifted out of fuel poverty through these schemes.