Primrose Hill Heat Demonstrator project was undertaken during 2024/25. The feasibility study was funded by the UK Government Community Energy Fund and was delivered in partnership with Possible and Camden Council. The study sought to define a local energy solution for private and social housing properties in Primrose Hill, London.
All properties at the site were customers of a gas-powered heat network, which was found to be extremely inefficient and high cost to end users. The site was found to have an annual heating demand of 582.4 MWh, associated costs of £40,000 and emissions of 118 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
To address this, the study defined and assessed local energy solutions which will:
1) Reduce GHG emissions from the communal heat network.
2) Remove site reliance on fossil fuels for their heating.
3) Reduce energy bills for heat network customers.
4) Generate electricity locally via solar panels.
5) Improve thermal efficiency within properties.
Scene assessed low carbon heating options – including air-source heat pumps and ground-source heat pumps, using heat from the nearby Primrose Hill Park – as well as energy efficiency retrofit strategies and solar generation opportunities.
Whilst replacing the heat network generation units with a commercial scale GSHP was found to be technically viable, the cost differential between gas and electricity meant that higher costs to end users (as of early 2025). Both solar generation and significant improvements for energy efficiency were recommended to reduce emissions and costs.
The project is progressing in 2025 to provide a financially viable route to low carbon heating for existing heat networks of this scale.