Vattenfall Heat UK and Midlothian Council have jointly formed Midlothian Energy Limited (MEL) to oversee the development of a low carbon heat network in the Midlothian town of Shawfair.

The initial stage of the projected is expected to supply heating to 3,000 new homes, as well as education and retail properties, that will be connected to the underground heat network.

Construction of the Shawfair site started earlier this year as part of work to regenerate the local area, according to the project developers. A large section of the 4km pipes have already been installed.

Vattenfall Heat said it has enlisted the help of the Scotland-based technical services specialist, FES Group as the principal construction compliance partner, to help deliver the low-carbon heating project at Shawfair.

Vattenfall Heat says the site will be supplied power by waste heat from the Millerhill Recycling and Energy Recovery Centre.

“Millerhill recycling and energy recovery centre (RERC), converts non-recyclable household and business waste into heat and power, explained Steve Longdon, Chief Executive Officer for FCC Environment.

“The plant was developed alongside The City of Edinburgh Council and Midlothian Council to help them divert 155,000 tonnes of waste from landfill each year,” Mr Longdon said.

The Shawfair development is major part of the Midlothian Energy Limited 5-year business plan to decarbonise homes in the local area and is expected could progress a variety of other energy projects.

The planned expansion of the network currently being installed, will also look to eventually take heat from other waste heat sources, according to Vattenfall Heat. This will include extracting heat from the local mine workings that are no longer in use.

Vattenfall Heat said that as the network expands, it plans to explore the option for geothermal heat produced naturally from water collected within the local coal mines as a low carbon heat source for the heat network.

The heat network is planned to be operational by June 2024 and is expected to eventually supply heat to over 30,000 households and businesses in Midlothian. The heating specialist says, it could also lead to a wider regional network that would stretch into East Lothian and south Edinburgh.

Vattenfall Heat expects the initial phase of the network to amount to savings of over 2,500 tonnes of CO2 per year, the equivalent of taking 1,200 cars off the road it said. It also expects the project will benefit from up to £7.3m from the Scottish Government’s Low Carbon Infrastructure Transformation Project (LCITP).

Jenny Curtis, managing director of Vattenfall Heat UK said that the company hoped the joint venture project would serve to show how heat networks can be scaled up more rapidly to help Scotland decarbonise its buildings.

She said: “Using waste heat from sources like energy from waste plants and mine workings is a no-brainer. The heat is already there, all we need is the urgent deployment of low-carbon heating infrastructure to capture it and supply it to local residents and businesses.”

“We are so excited to build on Midlothian’s proud heritage and make the shift to create a low-carbon, clean energy network for the local community, inspiring the next generation into low-carbon, local jobs.”