AN EDINBURGH village will be connected to a single clean energy centre on site, potentially cutting hundreds of tonnes of carbon a year.
The 709 homes being built at Edmonstone Village in south-east Edinburgh will not have a gas boiler and will instead provide every property with a single dedicated energy centre, a purpose-built facility that generates heat locally using industrial-sized air source heat pumps and pipes it directly to each home.
Vital Community Energi, the consumer energy brand within the Vital Energi group will own and run the system, which operates as a sort of boiler for the whole village, but one that belongs to a single company rather than sitting in each home, needing annual servicing and replacement every decade or so.
Residents won’t have a gas bill and will instead pay for heat as a tariff reviewed annually against UK energy indices and maintain a saving on the relative domestic air source heat pump comparator ensuring competitiveness with the equivalent domestic solution.
At Edmonstone, the energy centre uses air source heat pumps as its primary heat source. The heat is generated locally, and residents are less exposed to the volatility associated with conventional gas-linked heating.
The scheme is also expected to save 294 tonnes of carbon annually compared with a conventionally heated development of equivalent size.
Additionally, if the main heat pumps go offline, backup boilers take over automatically.
“We know energy bills are one of the biggest anxieties for anyone buying or moving into a home right now,” said Kieran Walsh at Vital Energi.
“This scheme is designed to give residents something they simply don’t get from a conventional gas heating arrangement – a managed, stable supply with no boiler to worry about, no individual maintenance costs, and pricing that isn’t hostage to what’s happening in global gas markets.
“We are responsible for this energy centre for the long term and that accountability is crucial.”
Residents manage their account through the Glass app, Vital Community Energi’s own customer platform, and have access to a 24/7 operation and maintenance team.
The scheme operates to Heat Trust standards, which provide consumer protections and sit within the framework of Ofgem’s incoming regulation of heat networks across Great Britain.
The permanent energy centre is expected to be operational by next May. Construction of the wider development is already under way, with 19 of the Avant Homes properties currently being supplied by a temporary energy centre on site.
