A district heating masterplan for the Greater Manchester Area has been developed in support of local and national commitments to sustainable energy.
Ramboll has been commissioned by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities to develop a district heating energy masterplan for the Greater Manchester area. The work forms part of the Greater Manchester (GM) Heat Network Programme that is being developed to facilitate the efficient, cost-effective development and delivery of heat networks across the ten authorities of Greater Manchester, to support carbon and energy policy commitments both locally and nationally.
The Programme, led by Manchester City Council on behalf of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA), has received grant funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and involves the UK Green Investment Bank as a major stakeholder.
The Energy Masterplan will be carried out in three phases:
Phase 1 – Heat mapping and initial opportunity mapping to establish long list of projects: The initial mapping phase (Phase 1) will involve analysis of potential schemes in the Greater Manchester area based on identifying opportunities through information contained in previous studies and using DECC’s National heat mapping tool. A long list of options will be developed and recorded on a GIS based mapping tool, which will form a deliverable for the project.
Phase 2 – Screening, ranking and shortlisting of project opportunities: Identified opportunities will then be ranked according to a set of criteria including linear heat density, Internal Rate of Return, carbon savings potential, commercial and planning factors, technical barriers to deployment and timescales to deployment. As part of this, Ramboll will develop a bespoke methodology for establishing linear heat density of potential scheme opportunities. Carbon savings potential for these opportunities will be approximated through a high level evaluation of the business as usual alternative for the identified schemes.
A shortlist of between 5 and 10 options will be identified through the shortlisting process. These will be taken to the next stage for a more detailed pre-feasibility assessment. The process will include ranking of short-term (2013-20), medium-term (2020-2030) and longer-term (2030-2050) opportunities with further pre-feasibility work generally focusing on prioritisation of short term schemes and medium term schemes with significant potential.
Phase 3 – Characterisation of shortlisted priority schemes according to technical and economic viability, carbon savings potential and commercial deliverability: More detailed appraisals of the shortlisted opportunities will then be carried out, including further analysis of technical, physical, planning and commercial risks associated with these opportunities. This is intended to be undertaken to the point that it provides sufficient certainty to stakeholders (private and public sector) to consider progressing the schemes to the next stage through more detailed feasibility work.
As part of the study Ramboll will consult with a range of stakeholders across Greater Manchester. Our approach will also be soft market tested with key project stakeholders to help to inform the methodology.
This project builds on a succession of decentralised energy masterplans that we have completed over the last year for a number of London Boroughs in collaboration with the Greater London Authority.