This document discusses Islington Council's efforts to reuse waste heat from local sources like the London Underground to help meet its climate targets. It outlines Islington's thermal planning process since 2010 to identify potential heat network clusters. Currently there are two main heat networks in Islington using gas CHP. The document explores a project to extract heat from the Underground using heat pumps, but notes challenges involving space constraints and coordinating with infrastructure timelines. It concludes that the THERMOS model could help Islington plan additional heat networks in-house and share best practices with other local authorities.

1. 1
How waste heat reuse can be
accomplished and the benefit of THERMOS
James Wilson
Energy Projects &
Programmes Team
Leader, Islington Council

2. 2
Energy and climate targets
Regional and local targets
• London target: 25% of heat and power
from decentralised energy by 2025
• Islington target: 40% reduction in
emissions between 2005 and 2020
• Islington planning rules: 35% carbon
reduction vs building regulations for
major developments
Other objectives:
• Fuel poverty relief
• Air quality improvement

3. 3
Thermal planning process
• 2010: Borough-Wide Decentralised Energy
Strategy – identifies potential clusters for
new networks
• 2014: Decentralised Energy Masterplan –
further development of work on clusters and
vision of long-term connection
• Individual feasibility studies:
• Archway
• Bunhill expansion
• Caledonian Road
• Highbury West

4. 4
Current scenario
• Two full-scale heat networks:
• Bunhill HN (Islington Council)
• 820 flats, 4 offices, 2 leisure centres
• Gas CHP
• Citigen HN (E.On)
• Commercial buildings only
• Heating and cooling
• Gas CHP, boilers, absorption chillers
• Several thousand properties on
‘communal’ heating systems

5. 5
Using heat from the tube
• CELSIUS project looked at new and existing smart
infrastructure solutions for heating and cooling.
• Islington working with Transport for London (TfL) on
extracting heat from the London Underground

6. 6
Using heat from the tube
• Heat pump captures the heat from the Underground
• System reverses in summer to provide cooled air to tunnels
• Controls system operates two energy centres to get lowest-
cost heat

7. 7
Using heat from the tube: Issues
• Planning:
• Lack of space
• Residential environment
• Joint working – timeline alignment
• Technical:
• Highly congested subsurface
infrastructure
• Expanding existing CHP-based
network with a heat pump

8. 8
Using heat from the tube: Replicability
• Replicable across
London
• Applicable to
other cities with
metros –
Bucharest
currently
exploring in
REUSEHEAT
project
• Different ways of
extracting heat

9. 9
How will THERMOS help Islington?
• Allow easy in-house heat network
modelling
• Save money on consultants
• Help us to help other local
authorities
• Builds our own knowledge base
• Best practice sharing