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What does a Project Development Engineer get up to? We find out in the next instalment of our International Women’s Day celebrations, featuring Millie Cooney. Millie helps organisations to understand where their energy comes from and how they can move towards net zero in a practical and reliable way. Read what she had to say about her role:

“I work with energy intensive organisations such as hospitals, universities and cities, helping them reduce carbon emissions while making sure their energy systems remain safe, resilient and fit for purpose.

I spend time on site understanding how heat and electricity are currently generated and used, and where improvements can be made. This might involve reducing energy demand or introducing low-carbon technologies such as heat pumps, solar power or energy storage, for example battery storage.

In hospitals in particular, energy resilience is critical – systems must always be dependable, as loss of power or heat could have serious consequences for patient care. A strong example of this is Northwick Park Hospital where we supported a long-term programme to help the site move towards net zero. We replaced an ageing system with low-temperature hot water network and introduced a tailored mix of heat pumps, solar power and battery storage. By working closely with the hospital’s facilities team, we delivered these changes in phases, ensuring energy remained secure and uninterrupted for patient care.

What motivates me most is seeing these projects make a real difference. The solutions we design don’t just reduce energy bills and carbon emissions, they also provide a secure energy supply and create more comfortable environments for building users. Equally important is the commercial aspect ensuring that solutions are not only technically robust but also affordable for clients. By creating guaranteed performance metrics, with penalties if systems fail to perform as designed, we reduce risk for energy users and ensure these solutions deliver real, lasting value.”

Since joining as an apprentice in 2023, Electrical Engineer, Meg Bradley, has got stuck into helping design and deliver heat pumps. Her contributions led her to win ‘Trainee of the year’ during the ACR & Heat Pump Awards.

Hear more about Meg’s role here:

‘I am an Electrical Engineer at Vital Energi, where I help design and deliver heat pump systems as part of wider energy solutions that support organisations on their journey to net zero. Heat pumps take heat from the natural resources (typically either air, water or ground) and use it to warm buildings efficiently, using electricity rather than fossil fuels, and they are a key renewable technology to help clients move away from gas and reduce carbon emissions.

My role focuses on the electrical side of these systems. I design the electrical infrastructure that powers and controls heat pumps, making sure all the components work together
safely and reliably. That includes selecting the right electrical equipment, supporting the wider design team, and helping to develop the control systems that make sure the heat pump runs efficiently once it’s installed.

I’ve worked on large projects such as Lancaster University, where heat pumps form a central part of the solution to help create a green campus while ensuring energy resilience. What I find most rewarding about my job is knowing that the systems I help design play a role in helping organisations across the UK transition to cleaner energy. It’s motivating to see complex designs turn into working systems that make a long-term difference for both our clients and the environment.’

Plans for a brand new solar farm in Heywood are powering ahead, with work beginning on site.

The 10 hectare site, at Chamber House in Heywood, will be transformed over the coming months, with the new solar farm set to produce enough energy to power 1,700 homes.

The electricity produced will be supplied to the national grid and used to offset the council’s annual energy bill, potentially saving the authority hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

The project was made possible after Rochdale Borough Council successfully bid for £3.3m funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Chamber House is only the second solar farm in the borough, following the installation of one at Rochdale Leisure Centre, which helps to power the facility.

The Chamber House Solar farm will be able to produce 5.5 megawatts of electricity, which will make a significant contribution towards Greater Manchester’s target of increasing renewable energy generation by 45 MW before 2024 across the 10 boroughs.

Liam O’Rourke, cabinet member for climate change and the environment, said: “It’s great to see this vital project heating up. It’s really important for Heywood and the wider borough. All local authorities in Greater Manchester have pledged to become net zero by 2038 and schemes like this show that Rochdale is more than playing its part to help us all reach this important target.

The new solar farm, which is expected to be operational during autumn this year, is one of a number of schemes the council is delivering to help tackle the environmental crisis.

The borough’s three largest leisure centres have all had solar panels installed on their roofs, as have a selection of primary schools and other council buildings, including the Green Lane Depot and some council-owned industrial units.

The project is being delivered by Vital Energi. Operations Manager at Vital Energi, David Oatt, said: “This is an ambitious project to create a major new solar farm capable of generating 5.5MW and is a significant step on Rochdale’s net zero journey.  We are delighted to be working in partnership with Rochdale Borough Council on a project which will contribute to a cleaner, greener Greater Manchester as well as drastically reducing the council’s energy bills.”

The Co-op Academy Brierley has become the latest building to connect to the Leeds PIPES Heat Network, and is set to feel the benefits of more reliable, affordable, low carbon, heat and hot water from the exemplar scheme.

The milestone was marked with a ribbon cutting ceremony held at the school and attended by key partners including Leeds City Council, Vital Energi and Ener-Vate.

The newly opened SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) school is the latest connection marking the continued expansion of the Leeds PIPES network beyond the city centre into Harehills; with key locations such as St. James’ Hospital in Burmantofts already benefitting from cheaper, more sustainable energy provided through the heat network.

Leeds PIPES recently celebrated having connected over 3,000 dwellings and 55 buildings since it was launched in 2018. It has been responsible for reducing nearly 6,000 tonnes of carbon emissions across the city in 2023 alone.

Co-op Academy Brierley joins a number of educational establishments that have already connected to Leeds PIPES, including Trinity Academy Leeds, Leeds Beckett University and Leeds Conservatoire.

Further extending the scheme’s impact into the classroom, partners behind the network, Leeds City Council, Vital Energi and Ener-Vate, have committed to the delivery of climate education sessions in schools across the city, empowering local young people to discover their future role in the wider green transition.

Andrew Wightman, Regional Director at Vital Energi, said:

“We’re incredibly proud to see Leeds PIPES continue to grow across the city, connecting buildings like the Co-op Academy Brierley so that staff and pupils can benefit from cheaper, more sustainable heat and hot water.

Delivering PIPES in partnership with Leeds City Council and Ener-Vate, we’ve seen first-hand the positive impact building connections have had in cost and carbon savings, something we’ll only see more of as we further expand the network.

We look forward to supporting Co-Op Academy Brierly further in their Climate Change curriculum and giving pupils and staff the chance to learn more about Leeds PIPES and the green industry in which the project is leading the way.”

Sarah Harridge, Headteacher at the Co-op Academy Brierley, said:

“I’ve been very impressed by the partnership between, Leeds City Council, Vital Energi and Ener-Vate in rolling out and expanding the Leeds PIPES network to include Co-op Academy Brierley. Co-op schools are leading the way in dramatically reducing our carbon emissions and actively engaging in a climate change curriculum and opportunities.

The Leeds PIPES heat network was named following a collaboration with year 9 pupils at Co-op Academy Leeds. These pupils created the name ‘Leeds PIPES’ – with PIPES standing for ‘Providing Innovative Pro-Environment Solutions‘.

At Co-op Brierley, we feel very fortunate to be part of this partnership and look forward to all the learning opportunities it creates for our children and young people, while benefiting from an affordable, reliable, and low carbon heating system.”

To find out more about the Leeds PIPES District Heat Network, please visit: https://www.leeds-pipes.co.uk/

Over 2000 households in Southwark will benefit from low carbon heating due to a ground-breaking renewable energy scheme developed by Vital Energi which will save thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the environment.

Vital Energi is retrofitting water source heat pumps within an existing high temperature heat network across three Southwark estates – with this being the first time this has been achieved within the capital.

In addition to new heat pumps, the estates will benefit from improvements to the district mains, boiler house works and electrical upgrades.  All of the works are scheduled to be complete before summer this year, and will help the council to achieve the Government’s Decent Homes standard.

The initiative is part of the council’s strategy to tackle climate change and better protect the environment from polluting gases. Approximately 79% of the borough’s carbon emissions come from buildings.

Southwark’s Councillor Helen Dennis and Councillor Stephanie Cryan recently visited the Wyndham estate to find out more about the scheme and its impact on the borough.

Councillor Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for the Climate Emergency and Sustainable Development said: “Tackling the climate emergency is a top priority for Southwark Council. These new heat pumps will deliver a win-win for residents, keeping their homes warm whilst generating renewable energy and removing thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air.

“Our Climate Change Strategy & Action Plan is clear that we all need to do everything we can to reduce our carbon emissions, and help tackle the climate emergency together. Tackling emissions from buildings is crucial, and this project sits alongside our Green Buildings Fund, and the work we have already undertaken to green council buildings across Southwark.”

Councillor Stephanie Cryan, Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness added: “We are working across the council to tackle the climate emergency that is facing us all. I am delighted that these works will further improve the quality of housing for our residents and also help us meet our ambitions for a healthier environment.”

The carbon savings from the initiative equate to 3,848 people flying from Gatwick to Chicago every year, or an average car travelling 13,468,000 miles every year. It would allow 16,000 people to drive across the UK, from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Find out more about how Southwark’s new heat pump networks will operate.

The Global Banking School (GBS) has expanded significantly in recent years, opening new campuses across London, Manchester and Birmingham, as well as international sites in Dubai and Malta.

In 2021 they opened their first site in Leeds at the St George House campus.  They have since taken on a second building and student numbers have risen from around 1,000 to approximately 5,000 across Leeds.

We visited the campus to meet Lewis Oswin-Bateman, Facilities Manager, and John Ward, Regional Facilities Manager, to learn about system reliability, how the network is contributing to the student experience, and what sustainability means to them.

Can you tell us about how you came to be connected to the Leeds PIPES heat network?

John: As a company, we’ve expanded significantly throughout the UK and added international sites. We wanted a presence in Leeds and in 2021 we entered a 15-year lease with the Council for the building. The Council had already connected the building to Leeds PIPES, so the pipework was in place and the plant room finished.

Is it important to GBS to have sustainable solutions for energy and did Leeds PIPES fit into that?

John: It’s the way GBS want to go, and the heat network offers that to them. As a business, we tend to do 15-year leases, so undertaking the connection ourselves for a limited period may not have made business sense, but because it was already installed, it was a good solution for us.

As leaders, we need to demonstrate that we want to save energy.  When we have to produce, we should ask ourselves, “can we look at better ways of producing that?”

Lewis: What’s interesting is that the district heating network is renewable. The heating comes from the Energy from Waste plant, and I organised a site visit so I could understand more about where the heat comes from. I think the Leeds PIPES project is an amazing initiative and comparing it to our other site in Leeds, which is gas, you’ve got a lot less compliances as well, with things like gas servicing. Also, there’s no combustion, so it’s a lot safer on that side of things.

Can you compare the benefits of being connected to a heat network with your other sites which use gas boilers?

Lewis: For me, as someone who has to handle all the heating, it’s no hassle. Compared to managing the boilers and all the fan coil units down at our other site, I have more stress there than I do here. This system is a lot easier to think about and fix.

John: It’s the reliability that’s great. The water comes into the building, goes through the plate heat exchanger, through the building pipes and back out. You really can’t get much simpler than that. It’s ideal for hospitals, universities and organisations which can’t have downtime and I’d say it’s proved its worth here.

So, as well as simplicity, it’s also about reliability.

Lewis: It’s one less thing to think about. I know if this system ever went off, I could give Vital Energi a ring and someone would come out and fix it. It’s about reliability and we know that heating is going to be there.

John: We’re five winters’ in with Leeds PIPES and we’ve never had a major issue with the heating. From my experience, if it was a gas boiler, we’d have had at least one instance where we came into a freezing cold building because the system had gone down.

How does maintenance of a heat network stack up against fossil‑fuelled solutions?

John: I think it’s a lot better. We’ve had one minor issue which was rectified and didn’t affect performance, and we’ve been in the building five years. This is opposed to situations where we’ve taken over a building and then we’ve got to get the servicing of the boilers and practical things like that. These can be coming up to the end of their lifecycle and need replacing, but the plate heat exchangers are simpler.

Lewis: From our perspective, all we do is treat the heat exchangers like boilers. All the pump systems, all the Building Management System settings are the same, so that side of things is fairly familiar.

John: Vital just come out once a year for an inspection.

How’s the responsiveness when you report an issue?

John: We’ve got a contact number so any issues we can just call that. We had an engineer in from another company who’d accidentally hit the “stop” button instead of the light switch on their way out of the plant room. A Vital engineer came, realised that had happened and got the system going again.

You’ve grown as a business, so presumably the way you use energy has changed. How does the system meet the increased needs?

Lewis: In total, between here and our other site we’ve grown to around 5,700 students.

John: And because we’re not a typical university, we have three intakes a year. When we first opened this in 2021 people were coming in and doing four-year courses, but they were part-time and only did two days per week and they tended to be staggered. We’ve also increased opening times from five days to seven days per week.

Has the system been able to accommodate that increase?

John: Yes. We’re looking to get maximum use out of the building, so in those really cold months – December, January, February – the heating will be on constantly, and it meets those needs. We want student comfort, so we make sure it’s between 20 and 23 degrees.

How important is sustainability for your students and what does it mean to know they get their heat from a renewable source?

John: Any time you can reduce your energy usage or carbon by a percentage, it has to be worthwhile. Not all countries are as committed as we are, but we can show the students that we’re doing our bit, as a company, and we can look at it from a global perspective because we’re a global company.

The students are onboard with that.

Lewis: We have construction management courses, and those students are really in tune with how we’re going to have to be more sustainable going forwards. They’re very technically knowledgeable and they’re the ones who come to us and ask direct questions about our sustainability. We can talk to them about things like our waste management contract and how 100% of waste is diverted from landfill. The Leeds PIPES connection is part of that.

Are you looking to improve the building further

John: We’re currently updating the radiators, which are probably from the mid‑1980s, when it was built, and that will make the heating more effective.

Lewis: What we need to balance is that we take 15-year leases, so our investments reflect that, but we’ll explore any solution if we think it benefits us and makes us more sustainable, from assessing solar and the Building Energy Management system, to the possibility of taking our hot water from Leeds PIPES as well as heating.

Sustainable energy solutions developer Vital Energi has supercharged its operations, opening new offices in Newcastle and Swansea and expanding the scale of its presence in Glasgow, Scotland. The expansion comes as the result of a growing pipeline of energy generation, networks and storage solutions worth £2.5 billion.

To deliver current and future work, Vital Energi’s 760-strong workforce will increase by approximately 50%, adding 400 new green jobs over the next five years. As well as new offices and the Glasgow expansion, the firm’s Blackburn headquarters has undergone a major refurbishment to modernise the office space and increase seating capacity by a third.

This expansion marks the next step in Vital Energi’s pathway to not only develop and deliver energy assets but also be the asset owner. Through strategic collaborations, the company continues to strengthen its ability to develop, deliver and own energy infrastructure and generation assets that benefit local communities across the UK.

In addition to educating and training the green workforce of the future at its £2 million state-of-the-art training facility in Blackburn, Vital Energi also invites industry organisations to learn from their experts, addressing the need to train, upskill, and reskill the UK’s workforce in line with the country’s net zero ambitions.

The company’s expanded presence will enhance collaboration with public sector organisations across the UK, from Scotland to London, delivering large-scale projects that tackle fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions. Vital Energi’s expertise in decarbonising diverse sectors – from universities and hospitals to airports and industrial facilities – has already connected over 100,000 homes and buildings to sustainable heat networks.

We’re improving energy performance within six of the City of London’s most iconic buildings as part of their robust zero carbon roadmap, and our decarbonisation project is taking shape.

In total, we’ll be replacing over 10,000 light fittings with LED lighting across the Barbican Art Centre, the Guildhall Complex, Guildhall School of Music, and Dance including the buildings at Milton Court, John Hossier Annexe, Silk Street and Sundial Court, to increase energy performance.

Out of the 10,000 LED upgrades, we have just 700 left to install within the Barbican, and within the Guildhall event spaces where we’re implementing specialist LED lighting. Work is due to be complete by mid-September.

We’ve also installed Energy Conservation Measures such as draught proofing, BMS optimisation, replacement of failed or end of life control valves, ventilation distribution repairs, pipe insulation, Air Handling Unit EC fan retrofit, and metering, to reduce energy use, unnecessary heat loss, and help improve comfort conditions for building users.

Once complete, the City of London Corporation will benefit from energy savings of over £480,000 a year and carbon savings of over 1,000 tonnes a year, helping take major strides towards the ambitious target of net zero carbon emissions by 2027 for its corporate estate.

We asked Project Manager, Kaushik Modasia, to take some photographs of the progress so far.

Over the last six years we have been working with a range of public sector organisations to lower their carbon emissions as they strive towards net zero.  Over this time we have successfully delivered 12 projects ranging from local authorities and universities to NHS Health Boards and Trusts.

One of the most innovative aspects of the RE:FIT framework is that projects are underpinned by an energy performance contract which guarantees carbon reduction and financial savings through energy reduction.  We are delighted to announce that this work now accounts for over 11,500 tonnes of guaranteed carbon savings each and every year.

Chris continues, “This, however, is only one of over 50 frameworks which we sit on, and we were able to announce several years ago that we were guaranteeing over 1 million tonnes of carbon reduction to the NHS.  Passing both these landmarks demonstrates how effective the correct framework can be and we look forwards to working alongside more of the UK’s councils, universities, hospitals and other public sector organisations as they work towards their net zero goals.”

In addition to the environmental benefits, our RE:FIT projects are also delivering £9.8m in guaranteed energy savings per year, which is money which can now be reinvested where it will do the most good.

Projects have seen us install building fabric improvements, lighting upgrades, HVAC improvements, Building Management Systems, heat pumps, rooftop solar PV and major solar farms in buildings ranging from leisure centres, hospitals, and universities to schools and libraries.  We often work with our clients to adopt a phased approach, allowing them to make progress on their net zero journeys as funding becomes available.

If you’d like to learn more about RE:FIT projects and how they’re delivered we have case studies available here:

• Swansea Bay University Health Board Energy Conservation Measures
• Swansea Bay University Health Board Solar Farm
• Westminster City Council
• The University of East Anglia
• Aberystwyth University