Peel NRE's low carbon district heat network Mersey Heat has scooped £6.2 million in Government funding to investigate expanding the network to include Liverpool's Three Graces buildings and surrounding properties at Pier Head.

The grant totaling £6,266,000 from the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was made official in partnership with Triple Point Heat Networks Investment Management.

It will also help to fund one of two 3MW low-carbon heat pumps, the first of which will be water source heat pump at Peel NRE's energy centre at Great Howard Street.

The new funding also enables Mersey Heat to undertake further feasibility studies to extend the network to the Pier Head and to be able to offer low carbon heat to the Grade I listed Royal Liver Building, the Grade II listed Cunard and Port of Liverpool buildings in partnership with the buildings’ owners.

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The Grade II listed George’s Dock Building and the Museum of Liverpool which opened in 2011 will also be included in the designs for the heat network extension.

More than 2.5km of pipework for the 4.1km network has already been installed and when complete, Mersey Heat will provide low carbon heat and hot water to up to 9,000 homes and 4 million sq ft of commercial space at Peel L&P’s £5bn Liverpool Waters development and nearby buildings.

Apartments at the newly converted Tobacco Warehouse at Stanley Dock are already receiving heat from the network soon to be followed by The Titanic Hotel and Southern Warehouse and Liverpool Waters’ Princes Parade.

Construction work for Peel NRE's energy centre to serve Mersey Heat is expected to start on site early 2022, housing low-carbon technology to save around 4,200 tonnes of carbon per year.

This will be achieved through the primary use of water source heat pumps and thermal stores capable of holding 260 cubic metres of hot water. Heat only gas boilers with up to a combined capacity of 40MW will act as a back up and for use during times of peak demand.

Marking another step forward in the government's Clean Growth Strategy, the funding for Mersey Heat will come from the £320m Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP) fund.