Next phase announced for pioneering £63m Peterborough energy scheme

The landmark project, which it is hoped can be replicated across the country if successful, aims to pump green energy into half of Peterborough’s homes and could cut energy bills by up to a quarter, according to the city council.

The Peterborough Integrated Renewables Infrastructure project (PIRI) is expected to deliver electricity through pipelines generated from the Energy Recovery Facility plant at Fourth Drove in Fengate, although the council said this is just one option being looked at.

The huge venture was announced in November 2019, and it has been revealed that work will begin on the next phase, a two year design period which has been granted funding from UK Research and Innovation, alongside corporate investment.

It is hoped that the householders in Peterborough will begin benefiting from cheaper and cleaner energy in 2022, and if the project is a success it could then be rolled out across other towns and cities to help the UK realise its ambition of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Peterborough is also seeking to become a net zero contributor of carbon by 2030.

Other benefits of PIRI are expected to include integrated billing and service for heat, electricity and mobility (such as electric vehicle charging), as well as efficiency savings.

The partnership behind the project includes Peterborough City Council, SSE Enterprise, Element Energy, Cranfield University, Smarter Grid Solutions and Sweco UK.

Elliot Smith, PIRI programme lead at the council, said; “This is a highly innovative project - one of the most ambitious nationally and one which could become the most significant in the UK’s transition to low carbon infrastructure. For Peterborough, it has substantial benefits and supports the sustainable growth of the city.”

Professor Philip Longhurst, head of the Centre for Climate and Environment Protection at Cranfield University, said: “For the UK to achieve its ambitions of Net Zero we are going to have to do things differently.

“These plans for the PIRI project show how local low carbon, smart energy systems could be used across the UK for the benefit of both the environment and consumers.”