Several Coventry University buildings will soon connect to the Coventry District Energy Company (CDEC) which provides heat via a 6.6km network of buried pipes to consumers in the city centre.
A total of 11 university buildings will be joined to the network, transporting heat from the city’s waste incinerator to supply energy with only one-sixth of the carbon emissions of natural gas to major public buildings.
The initiative is part of the university's efforts to reach net zero by 2030, having been awarded a grant of almost £13million from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which is funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and delivered by Salix Finance Limited.
The grant has also seen around 800 solar panels installed across the city centre campus to help generate energy and reduce emissions, and it is hoped the full project could reduce the Group’s carbon emissions by more than 1,300 tonnes per year – more than a fifth of its annual carbon emissions arising from the use of fossil fuels.
The buildings being connected to the district energy network are:
The works get underway on Monday, 4 August, starting at the Sir Frank Whittle building and neighbouring Student Centre.
Our efforts to be net zero by the end of the decade are moving along at pace and connecting our buildings to the city’s district energy network is the next step in that aspiration.
Pedestrian access will still be available around the buildings while works take place over the next few weeks.
This will be followed by activity across the city centre in the coming months, which could see some roadworks until the project is completed in spring 2026.
“There may be some disturbance to people travelling around parts of the city centre, however these will be kept to a minimum and the works, once complete, will benefit the city as a whole, not just the university.”
