Peterborough City Council to seek private partner to complete £53m underground energy network project

Peterborough City Council (PCC) will seek a private partner to help deliver a new £53m heat and energy network, it has announced.

The council says it considered various options for the PIRI (Peterborough Integrated Renewables Infrastructure) project – from undertaking it in house to divesting it entirely – before settling on the partnership model.

“Substantial investment” will be required from the company chosen, it added, to realise the plans.

These entail transferring heat and electrical power from the council-owned Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Fengate to city centre buildings via underground pipes and cables.

The ERF generates energy by burning non-recyclable household waste.

PCC says that it undertook market testing earlier this year and received nine responses from firms interested in involvement.

At a council cabinet meeting at which the decision to procure a partner was approved, leader Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservatives, West) said that PIRI is a “great project”.

“It’s another Conservative-led project that will come to fruition and will serve well for many generations to come,” he added.

Cllr Andy Coles (Conservatives, Fletton and Woodston) said that the project is “how we should be doing environmental work in the city”.

“It’s not about stopping people from doing things,” he said. “It’s not about preventing people from using their normal ways of getting around; it’s about using modern technology to deliver a really good green project.”

Construction on the infrastructure required to complete the project is due to begin in winter next year.

While it will initially cover the city centre – including buildings such as the Town Hall and those used by participating businesses – it may be rolled out elsewhere in future, the council says.

The project, currently in the business case stage, has so far been funded by the Government – partly through the Green Heat Network Fund – as well as through private investment.

When a potential partner is chosen to move the project forward, this will be considered again by councillors.