Saga of Pimlico heating system drags on – with more consultancy costs needed
By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter
Westminster City council is expected to spend an extra £1.2m on consultants after its plans to upgrade the UK’s oldest district heating system “changed significantly,” official documents show.
The central London authority said further work was needed to develop a range of options for updating the Pimlico District Heating Undertaking (PDHU) before shortlisting them.
The system, which is around 70 years old, currently supplies heat to over 3,000 homes and 50 commercial premises, as well as three schools and a post office in Pimlico, according to the council.
The council wants to reduce the number of scenarios from 14 to six this month. These range from doing minimal to powering the PDHU with thermal batteries full of waste heat captured in East London and ferrying down the River Thames and installing a water source heat pump in the Thames.
A report being considered by the council’s cabinet reads: “While significant progress has been made in understanding the different technologies available and their suitability for PDHU, there is a need for further analysis and exploration of solutions before the shortlist is finalised.
“This includes carrying out additional modelling, enhanced electrical surveys as well as commissioning specialist legal services to “advise on matters including but not limited to leaseholder liabilities [and] charging mechanisms.”
The money will also go towards developing the council’s funding strategy for the project and bolster its engagement strategy with residents and businesses. It will also go towards analysing if individual blocks can accommodate heat pumps.
The project was initially given £1.2m to carry out feasibility works. The additional £1.2m is expected to be funded from the Community Infrastructure Levy, a charge that local authorities in England and Wales can impose on new developments to fund infrastructure projects needed to support growth.
It comes as residents and councillors asked the local authority to explore a “block level” approach where the heating plan for each block is reviewed independently. The approach is said to be highly complex and require careful planning.
The report read: “The scope of [the council’s] business case has changed significantly, and further work is needed to develop the level of detail required for the shortlisted options.”
The PDHU heats homes across Abbots Manor, Churchill Gardens, Lillington and Longmore and Russell House using heat from the natural gas burning energy centre located at the Pump House in Churchill Gardens Estate.
It is owned and run by Westminster City council which says the pipework is decades beyond its design life and as a result is plagued with leaks and insulation problems.
A previous report showed £3.5m was spent on maintenance in 2023 while an average of 3,000 leaks and repair jobs were reported per annum over the past two years. It also found an estimated 30 to 40 per cent of the PDHU’s energy is lost due to poor thermal efficiency.
Westminster City council will consider the proposal at a cabinet meeting on Monday.
Pictured top: Pimlico rooftops (Picture: Wikimedia Commons : Wiki page HERE)
