In 2022 / 23, Scene undertook a feasibility study for a low carbon district heat network in the town of Watlington, Oxfordshire. Through a detailed techno-economic design process, Scene defined how a low carbon heating system could benefit Watlington residents and businesses through lower energy bills and reduced carbon emissions. Subcontractors Townrock Energy provided geological assessment and analysis of ground-source heating opporutnities and designs for the project, concluding that ground-source borehole arrays and heat pumps would be viable options for heating all or part of the town. Scene conducted a financial appraisal of heating options over 60 years to understand heat network viability in the context of business-as-usual and a future energy counterfactual (i.e., distributed air-source heat pump) scenarios.
The feasibility study was funded by the Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) programme and initiated by Watlington Climate Action Group (WCAG), a community group of residents seeking to secure a low carbon future for Watlington.