In the UK, enfinium Group (enfinium), a leading energy-from-waste operator, has announced that it has reached a 25-year agreement with compatriot energy utility major SSE plc to become the anchor supplier of low-carbon heat from its Skelton Grange Energy-from-Waste facility into the Aire Valley Heat Network development.
The heat offtake deal will support local industry and future growth in low-carbon heat across Leeds. Under the long-term agreement, enfinium will provide an initial 6 MWth of bulk heat from Skelton Grange.
This will enable SSE to expand the heat network to serve more local businesses and, over time, potentially homes in the surrounding area.
The bulk heat supply is expected to become operational from Q1 2027, with phased expansion thereafter in line with the growth of the Aire Valley Heat Network and demand from local users.
Over its lifetime, the initiative will help to anchor a circular economy approach in the Aire Valley: unrecyclable waste diverted from landfill, turned into reliable local energy, and used to support essential infrastructure on the doorstep of the facility.
Supported by the Green Heat Network Fund
The agreement builds on SSE’s role in developing phase one of the Aire Valley Heat and Power Network, which has received £10.81 million from the UK Government’s Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF).
Launched in 2022, the GHNF is a core element of the government’s Heat Network Transformation Programme (HNTP) and follows on from the progress and development made by the Heat Network Investment Project (HNIP) and the 2021 Green Heat Network Fund Transition Scheme.
It also reinforces enfinium’s ambition to transform its EfW facilities into local decarbonisation hubs, capable of supplying power, heat, and, in the future, other low-carbon energy solutions to nearby communities and businesses.
Heat networks only work when they are rooted in place. With Skelton Grange becoming the long-term anchor supplier of low-carbon heat into the Aire Valley Heat Network, enfinium is helping keep energy local, cut carbon, and make better use of our resources. This is the circular economy in action: unrecyclable waste diverted from landfill, turned into low-carbon energy, and reused to support critical local infrastructure over the long term, said Mike Maudsley, CEO at enfinium.
Construction of the heat offtake system and network connection is expected to begin in advance of operations commencing in Q1 2027, with phased expansion thereafter as the Aire Valley Heat Network grows.
This is a positive milestone for our low-carbon heat network with enfinium in West Yorkshire. When constructed, the project will unlock new and plentiful heat sources, continuing to help West Yorkshire Combined Authority meet its ambitions of a net-zero carbon region by 2038, said Nathan Sanders, Managing Director for Distributed Energy at SSE.
