A heat pump manufacturer has begun construction work at two sites in Cornwall as part of a multi-million pound renewable heating project.
Kensa Group, headquartered in Truro, includes the UK’s only specialist ground source heat pumps manufacturer and other businesses that deal with associated underground infrastructure.
Kensa Utilities has now broken ground at Carlyon Bay and Harlyn Bay to install a sustainable heating network, which will aim to supply homeowners in the areas with all of their heat and hot water. The network is designed to extract low-temperature solar energy stored in the ground using buried pipework.
Workers at the two sites have begun drilling boreholes for a “shared ground loop system” - similar to a traditional gas framework - which will allow for the heating of multiple properties.
Kensa Utilities has been awarded a £6.2m grant by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to part-fund Heat the Streets - an £8.7m initiative running until March 2023.
The scheme is looking to offer efficient and sustainable ground source heating for hundreds of new and existing homes in the Duchy. It’s hoped greenhouse gases associated with space heating and hot water in these homes can be reduced by 70%.
Kensa Utilities will retain ownership of the ground array, charging a fixed annual fee to households for its use.
The firm said split-ownership funding of low carbon heating was intended to "break down the barriers" to net zero carbon emissions targets and make clean heating affordable for more households.
It added that the ERDF financing model had allowed it to install the ground heat pumps and the associated infrastructure for less than the cost of an air source heat pump.
Senior project manager Lisa Treseder said: "To achieve net zero by 2050, we need to transform the way people heat their homes. This project demonstrates how we can decarbonise home heating in a way that creates great value for money while minimising capital investments. We also need to lower the barrier of upfront costs to encourage the adoption of ground source heat pumps."
The Heat the Streets project which will also see installation of split-ownership, ground source heat pumps retrofitted into private properties in the off-gas village of Stithians and social housing estates around Cornwall.
The Kensa Group employs around 150 people and is partly owned by Legal & General Capital.
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