Homes and businesses in Bolton will be heated using power from sewers after a project was awarded government funding.

Bolton Council has been awarded £11m to develop an ‘innovative’ and ‘ambitious’ heat network in the town centre to help cut carbon emissions using sewers.

Support from the Green Heat Network Fund will unlock the funding of Bolton District Heating Network, which would use a heat pump to extract warmth from sewers that run beneath the town centre.

Sewers are warmed by heat from water used in washing machines, showers, baths, and kitchens.

And the new cutting-edge project would take this wasted warmth and distribute it to nearby buildings.

As a result, the heat network is expected to save 123,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over 40 years, the equivalent of taking 15,000 cars off the road, a 75 per cent reduction in emissions. 

The project will also be supplemented by additional capacity from an air source heat pump, allowing for further expansion across the borough.

Low carbon heating would be provided to a mixture of public buildings and residential and commercial properties, including Bolton town hall, the central library and Le Mans Crescent, social housing developments and the University of Bolton.  

The heat network is also expected to connect to various new-build residential developments, creating energy efficient, sustainable homes for new residents. 

Bolton Council’s executive cabinet member for climate change and environment, Cllr Richard Silvester, said: “I am fully behind and supportive of Bolton’s proposed district heat network.

“This will be an innovative and ambitious way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality in Bolton town centre.

“It will be a major project as part of the council's climate change strategy.

“It will generate energy that is not only clean and green, but also affordable, lowering energy bills for all connected customers and increasing energy security and resilience. 

“The scale of this project demonstrates the council’s commitment to a low carbon future for Bolton and the wider city-region, delivering on our climate emergency obligations, and we expect it to benefit residents and businesses in Bolton town centre, as well as helping to attract new investment that will boost jobs and regeneration.”  

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