Cornish village launches scheme to provide hundreds of homes with renewable heat
Kensa Utilities is installing ground-source heat pumps near properties in Stithians
A project has been launched in the Cornish village of Stithians, to provide renewable heat for people's homes from beneath the ground.
'Heat the Streets' was offered funding as part of the European Regional Development Fund ground-source heat pump project, and will give around 250 homes an alternative method to heat their homes.
Lisa Tresida, Director of Business Development for Kensa Utilities, said: "We've just started installing our first heat pumps. It makes it much easier for people to accept renewable heat in their home".
She added: "If we reduce the amount of gas that we burn in private houses then it will reduce our reliance on gas which will drive down the cost of electricity for everybody. It's really important now we're in the current energy crisis".
How does the scheme work?
The project drills bore holes beneath the surface of roads and pavements near local houses.
The pumps will collect heat from the ground and reuse that energy inside peoples homes.
Officials say it will benefit households who often rely on oil for heating.
It is part of a wider plan to introduce more ground-source heat pumps for houses across the UK.
Lisa continued: "It is quite noisy and there'll be some disruption from having the building works in the village but once installed the ground works infrastructure will be there for 100 years, there won't be that future disruption.
"Each house will have it's own bore hole. It's compressed in the heat pump, it takes heat out of the ground and puts it in to your house. It's 300% efficient, it doesn't use very much electric at all".
The group say they deliver efficient and sustainable ground source heating for 100s of new and existing homes in Cornwall, and similar projects have also taken place in more urban areas too, in an aim to meet net-zero by 2050.
The ground source heat pumps have been put in place to replace the gas mains and are said to reduce greenhouse gases associated with space heating and hot water by 70%.