Enabling sustainable cooling and heating across the Tees Valley Industrial cluster (ESC)

The UK has set the goal of achieving NetZero by 2050. In 2012, the UK had a total GHG emission level of 613 MtCO2e. There is an urgent need to increase the share of renewable/clean energy sources and reduce carbon emissions, which is essential to the UK's energy efficiency policy. "Greener transition" is part of the prime minister's ten-point plan (point 7) to achieve a green industrial revolution in the UK, with an aim of attracting more private investment, supporting the creation of more jobs and reducing GHG emissions.

At present, commercial entities' cooling and heating is mostly achieved by electricity and fossil fuels. The Carbon Trust indicated that refrigeration and HVAC consume about 14% of the UK’s electricity, and certain commercial enterprises could consume as much as 90%. Clean energy routes, combined with thermal energy storage, have the potential to decarbonise both the heating and cooling sectors in any cluster region.

The ESC project aimed to enable the Tees Valley industrial cluster area to provide sustainable cooling and heating and to progress along the pathway to achieve Net Zero targets. The project looked at industrial activities in the region and mapped the current conventional fossil approach, identifying more sustainable, net-zero technologies under this ESC project. This aimed to drive industrial decarbonisation and the transition to net-zero provision, and help establish Tees Valley as the first Net Zero industrial cluster in the UK.

Total project value: £58,672