Annual district heating costs are set to rise fivefold in just four years to £25 million as Southwark Council grapples with its creaking district heating networks.
As we have previously reported, Tooley Street has estimated bringing heating and hot water up to scratch in a way that meets its carbon footprint targets would cost a staggering £350 million.
Now, for the first time, new council reports have shed light on the first tranches of that investment.
There are more than 100 heat networks serving 17,000 properties across the council’s overall stock of around 55,000 homes.
Although designed to keep costs low due to bulk purchasing and reduced running costs, in reality many of the networks are over 40 years old and in some cases well beyond their lifespan.
In a bid to limit problems this year the council’s main contractors, OCO and Smith & Byford, have taken on extra staff and a third maintenance contractor has also been drafted in to boost capacity.
They have focused on increasing their stock of replacement parts, and the council has also set up a new supplier relationship for temporary boilers so these can be quickly brought in if needed to limit outage times.
The borough’s largest system, and the worst affected by major outages in 2019, was Wyndham Estate. It has since had its boilers rebuilt, gas boosters renewed and is part way through the first phase of having the underground mains replaced.
New burners have been fitted to D’Eynsford Estate’s boilers and significant work has also taken place in Brandon, and Brimington Estates, with a heating network powering what was the North Peckham Estate next on the list.
But this is a drop in the ocean compared with the extent of work needed. Council papers list a shocking 20 sites ‘of concern’.
Expenditure is forecast at £5 million in 2022-23, £15m the following year, and £25 million by 2024-5; but these figures are “dependent upon both the results of feasibility studies and the availability of government grants to support certain elements of delivery”.
The urgency of this work has been made stark by the results of a public survey into the district heating service, which had around 800 respondents.
Around half – 53.43 per cent – said their current system was not reliable, with 84.52 per cent reporting that they had experienced outages.
More than a quarter said outages were at least monthly, with just under ten per cent saying they occurred at least once a week.
A new compensation policy was implemented after lobbying from frustrated tenants forced to splurge on expensive fan heaters, with a flat payment of £3 for a day’s outage.
Unsurprisingly Aylesbury Estate is reported to be the worst affected in the borough, followed by Brimington, Cossall, Newington and the area covered by North Peckham district heating network.
Newington is currently having work undertaken to install new heat pumps – a greener and more reliable alternative.
Southwark Council’s 20 sites ‘of concern’ with projected £25 million of district heating works between now and 2025
- Alberta
- Aylesbury
- Brandon
- Clifton
- Consort
- Cossall
- Deighton Court
- D’Eynsford
- Gloucester Grove
- Haddonhall
- Harfield Gardens
- Lettsom
- Newington
- North Peckham
- Ospray
- Sceaux Gardens
- Setchell
- Surrey Docks (Downtown)
- Sydenham Hill
- Wyndham
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