Bristol City Leap and Vattenfall win Clean Energy Scheme Award
Bristol City Leap, a partnership between Bristol City Council and Guildford-based Ameresco Ltd, to accelerate green energy investment in Bristol, has been awarded the prestigious ‘Clean Energy Scheme Award’ in collaboration with Vattenfall Heat UK, at the 2024 Green Energy Awards, organised by Regen.
The judging panel commended Bristol City Leap and Vattenfall for their innovative and game-changing approach to city-scale decarbonisation. This joint venture partnership, which includes Bristol City Council and Ameresco, is a pioneering initiative set to revolutionise the energy landscape of Bristol.
The judges said: “We were looking for a project that delivered at scale and provided significant carbon savings. We wanted to celebrate schemes that broke new ground and led by example to inspire a path for others to follow.”
“This was a particularly inspiring set of projects, but we have to pick a winner. We particularly valued the game-changing approach to the city-scale decarbonisation that this project enabled. The project provides an inspiring example of a public and private sector joint venture partnership approach to deliver decarbonisation at scale, delivering a heat network to tackle the challenge of decarbonising heat while also educating and funding community projects and people here in the heart of Bristol.”
As part of Bristol City Leap, Vattenfall Heat UK is now serving the equivalent of 5000 homes with heating and hot water via the Bristol Heat Network.
Vattenfall Heat UK acquired the Bristol Heat Network one year ago as part of Bristol City Leap, a 20-year joint venture between Bristol City Council and Ameresco with Vattenfall Heat UK as a subcontractor. Over the next five years, Bristol City Leap plans to deliver a total of £750m in the decarbonisation of Bristol and create 1000 jobs in the process.
Bristol City Council’s partnership with Ameresco showcases how governments and businesses can join forces with communities to revolutionise a city’s energy system, from generation and distribution to storage consumption.
Over the next five years, Vattenfall expects to invest £475 million to grow the Bristol Heat Network, enabling it to provide enough heat to supply the equivalent of 12,000 homes.
