Bradford turns from cultural to low carbon capital

It has been the UK capital of culture for 2025 and soon, Bradford could become the capital of West Yorkshire for reducing its carbon emissions.

The city is embarking on an innovative project to connect more than a dozen public buildings to a new centralised heat network.

They include the 150-year-old civic hall, the magistrates and crown courts, Bradford College, the city’s university campus and the newly refurbished Alhambra Theatre.

The project investment totals £75 million, including £20 million from the government’s Green Heat Network Fund and £2 million from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which we administer.

Our contribution is covering the cost of connecting Bradford Council’s grade one listed headquarters to the network.

We’re working alongside the city every step of the way through the journey, ensuring deadlines are met and progress is made.

In this video, we meet two of the people driving the project.

The council’s energy manager, John Sharp, says the number of historic buildings in his city centre portfolio means decarbonising them is a significant challenge.

“Just using straightforward air source heat pumps is not always the answer.  It's quite challenging technology for the bigger buildings”, he said.

“The heat network gives us the opportunity to decarbonise them in a relatively inobtrusive manner once you get the work done. 

“For example, we don't need a big outdoor unit or visible equipment.

“We saw it as the only real viable option to go with the heat network for the whole of the city centre.

“The buildings that we're looking at include several that are grade one listed and iconic such as the Alhambra Theatre, and in future, St George’s Hall.”

Officials say the network, one of the first of its kind in the UK, will significantly decarbonise heating across Bradford, making a vital contribution to the city’s net zero targets.

They predict it will reduce heating emissions in connected buildings by at least 75 per cent from the first day the network goes live, compared to running dozens of fossil-fuelled boilers. 

The network energy centre is under construction on a site in the north west of the city and is due to come online in 2026.

Twenty-five industrial air source heat pumps will eventually be used to generate the heat for distribution via a five-kilometre-long network of super-insulated pipes.

The energy centre’s output will be enough to heat the equivalent of 10,000 homes but there are no plans to extend the network to include domestic properties.

There are also moves to harness waste heat from a planned data centre to be built on the same site which would feed into the network.

“The Bradford project is special because of its size and the fact it's the first”, says Angus Wardlaw, from main contractor, 1 Energy.

“What's happening here in Bradford is a really significant project within the UK’s low carbon infrastructure. 

“I think it gives confidence to other cities that they can also go on the journey of a heat network.  They can look at low carbon solutions themselves.

“It's been wonderful working on this project.”