{"id":1752,"date":"2026-04-09T08:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/?p=1752"},"modified":"2026-04-09T08:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:41:15","slug":"senior-councillors-approve-7-2-million-district-heating-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/?p=1752","title":{"rendered":"Senior councillors approve \u00a37.2 million district heating extension"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff<\/p>\n<p><meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no\"><meta http-equiv=\"X-UA-Compatible\" content=\"IE=edge\"><meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no\"><meta charset=\"utf-8\"><title>Senior councillors approve \u00a37.2 million district heating extension<\/title><meta name=\"description\" content=\"\"><meta name=\"keywords\" content=\"\"><meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index,follow\"><meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index,follow\"><meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\"><meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Senior councillors approve \u00a37.2 million district heating extension\"><meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"\"><meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"website\"><meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/media\/press-releases\/senior-councillors-approve-7-2-million-district-heating-extension\/\"><meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senior councillors approve \u00a37.2 million district heating extension\"><meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-case-study rte\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-case-study__wrap\">\n<p><strong>Senior councillors have approved plans to invest \u00a37.2 million extending the city\u2019s flagship district heating network by 2500 metres so that more buildings can enjoy the benefits of reliable, affordable, and low carbon heating.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The \u00a347 million Leeds PIPES network supplied 13,900 MWh of low carbon heat in 2021 and continues to grow. It is set to become one of the UK\u2019s largest heat networks.<\/p>\n<p>Five new extensions will see the Leeds PIPES district heating network expand into new areas of the city.<\/p>\n<p>The council has identified at least nine sites that will be able to connect because of the approved extensions\u2014potentially using another 11,600 MWh of sustainable heat every year.<\/p>\n<p>By using heat and energy recovered from non-recyclable waste at the Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility (RERF) to provide hot water to buildings in the city, the network offers a reliable and significantly lower carbon alternative to traditional fossil fuel powered heating systems.<\/p>\n<p>The scheme currently supplies heat recovered from the waste of approximately 10,700 Leeds households and helped cut the city\u2019s carbon footprint by 2,000 tonnes in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Buildings and new developments located near the network can choose to connect at any time. Almost 2,000 homes, commercial and public buildings have already connected to the scheme.<\/p>\n<p>The project has helped employ more than 430 people in the local low carbon sector including 36 apprentices.<\/p>\n<p>Heating and powering buildings is responsible for around a quarter of the UK\u2019s carbon emissions. In its Heat and Buildings Strategy published last year, the Government set out how low carbon heat networks will play an increasingly significant role as the country tackles climate change.<\/p>\n<p>New regulations are expected to be introduced by 2025 which will give councils the power to require certain existing buildings and new developments to connect to networks in pre-defined zones. Leeds City Council is now working with government to test the methodology used to establish these zones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"quote\">\n<div class=\"wrap quote__wrap\">\n<div class=\"swiper-container js-simple-quotes\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide\">\n<div class=\"quote__holder\"><span class=\"quote__icon\"> <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"36\" height=\"28\" viewbox=\"0 0 36 28\"><g fill=\"#F58220\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M12.319 0h3.648a2 2 0 0 1 1.838 2.788l-10.286 24A2 2 0 0 1 5.681 28H2.033a2 2 0 0 1-1.838-2.788l10.286-24A2 2 0 0 1 12.319 0zM30.319 0h3.648a2 2 0 0 1 1.838 2.788l-10.286 24A2 2 0 0 1 23.681 28h-3.648a2 2 0 0 1-1.838-2.788l10.286-24A2 2 0 0 1 30.319 0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg> <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"quote__holder\">\n<p class=\"quote__text\">Our city\u2019s district heating network is a great example of an innovative scheme which is supporting our long-term net zero carbon ambitions whilst enabling residents and businesses to enjoy reliable and affordable heating now. Economically, the planned expansion is also a fantastic investment for the council as well as those privately connecting. As the wholesale price of gas rises and as more and more building managers and developers seek to reduce their carbon footprint, our district heating offer has become even more competitive.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"quote__author\">Cllr Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council, <span class=\"quote__position\"> Executive Member for Infrastructure and Climate<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-case-study rte\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-case-study__wrap\">\n<p><strong>Mike Cooke, Managing Director (North &amp; Scotland) of Vital Energi, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a result of visionary investment and working collaboratively with partners, Leeds PIPES has very quickly established itself as one of the UK\u2019s major heat networks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the network continues to grow it becomes more efficient and accessible to potential connections, enabling the transition from fossil fuels to deliver more carbon savings and contribute to a cleaner, greener Leeds.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>A report to executive board with recommendations approved by councillors can be read <a href=\"https:\/\/democracy.leeds.gov.uk\/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=102&amp;MId=11362&amp;Ver=4\">online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff Senior councillors approve \u00a37.2 million district heating extension Senior councillors have approved plans to invest \u00a37.2 million extending the city\u2019s flagship district heating network by 2500 metres so that more buildings can enjoy the benefits of reliable, affordable, and low carbon heating. The \u00a347 million Leeds PIPES network supplied 13,900 MWh of low carbon [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"ve_media_section":[3],"ve_media_year":[],"ve_sector":[],"class_list":["post-1752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","ve_media_section-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1752"},{"taxonomy":"ve_media_section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fve_media_section&post=1752"},{"taxonomy":"ve_media_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fve_media_year&post=1752"},{"taxonomy":"ve_sector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fve_sector&post=1752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}