Ore Valley Housing Association
Services
Developing and operating a renewable energy centre
Providing secure and affordable community energy to almost 1,200 homes in Cardenden.
What was the Ore Valley Housing Association looking for?
Ore Valley Housing Association aimed to create Scotland’s largest energy self-sufficient community in Cardenden, Fife.
How are we helping?
MITIE is developing a £35 million energy centre that will convert recycled waste wood into heat and power. A district heating network extending more than 25km will be installed to carry hot water from the energy centre to and around the town.
What will be the outcome?
The district heating network will reduce heating and hot water bills for more than 1,200 homes in Cardenden. The energy centre will also generate around 35,000MWh of electricity each year for export back to the grid.
A community based energy partnership
In partnership with Ore Valley Housing Association, MITIE’s Asset Management division is providing the community in Cardenden with secure, economical energy supplies from a local, self-sufficient, off-grid source. At the same time, we are supporting Scotland’s renewable energy targets by developing and operating an energy centre that converts waste wood to heat and electricity.
The energy centre will be located about 1km from the town centre, within a 20,000 square foot, purpose-built structure. This has been specially designed with a low roof to reduce its impact on the surroundings.
Affordable energy through district heating
The energy centre will fuel a steam boiler to supply the Cardenden community with heating and hot water. The district heating network will comprise over 25km of pipework running from the energy centre to the town and connecting over 1,200 homes. In each home, the traditional boiler will be replaced by a heat exchanger, feeding the existing radiator system. As the water in the system cools down, it will be returned to the energy centre for re-heating, in a continuous cycle.
A dedicated Community Liaison Officer will minimise disruption to the community during construction and ensure all the connected householders get their heating systems upgraded to benefit from the new supply.
The benefits - economic and environmental
The energy centre will provide heating and hot water at up to 10% less than current prices, helping to cut energy bills and counter fuel poverty.
Carbon emissions will be reduced by 21,000 tonnes each year, equivalent to the carbon footprint of 3533 homes in the Fife region. The energy centre will also generate around 35,00MWh of renewable electricity each year, which will be fed into the national grid, helping to meet climate change targets.
The project will boost the local economy, creating around 50 jobs during construction and up to 12 permanent positions once the energy centre is operational.