In 2022 / 23, Scene project managed the detailed feasibility and development of a heat network proposal in the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire funded by the Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) Phase 2. The village is heavily reliant on fossil fuels for domestic heating and hot water, making up a large proportion of Upper Heyford residents’ current carbon emissions. With the UK experiencing unusually high energy prices in 2023, the project is seeking to:
Reduce local emissions and pollution resulting from fossil fuel use for heating and hot water.
Improve local energy security and price certainty.
Offer long-term, cost competitive heating tariffs in line with fossil fuel pricing.
To date the project has received two rounds of funding from the RCEF, which has enabled a feasibility study to be undertaken, with subsequent detailed system design, a thermal borehole test (Feb 23), and the development of a detailed 60-year financial model in line with UK Government Heat Network Development Unit standards.