海角视频

Greater London Authority (GLA) Local Energy Accelerator

London, UK

海角视频 supported the Greater London Authority (GLA) to deliver the Local Energy Accelerator (LEA) programme. As the Programme Delivery Unit (PDU) consultant, our role supported the development of local energy projects across London, identifying a pipeline of ~拢2bn investment opportunities which is estimated to deliver cumulative savings of over 450,000 tonnes of carbon savings by 2030.

Our experts brought a deep understanding of energy projects, including heat networks, building retrofits, smart energy systems, and renewable installations, and helped the client to envision how low carbon approaches could be adopted across many London boroughs.

To build a comprehensive understanding of the distinctive challenges different parts of the city faced, we liaised closely with a broad range of stakeholders across local authorities, housing, education and health sectors, as well as with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

Challenge

We were tasked with supporting the GLA towards its goal of achieving a net zero city by 2030.

This was a broad and complex project, working to a tight deadline. Our experts worked at all stages of development, from concept to delivery, with various consultants, scopes, and programmes, ensuring that KPIs were met, and adhered to GLA/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) requirements.

Our team was engaged to manage the overall programme and provide management and technical support to more than 43 beneficiaries. The original programme had a strict July 2023 deadline, which required significant management of beneficiaries and consultants to allow the project to be completed by this date.

We have benefitted from ongoing and free support, with the Programme Delivery Unit acting as a critical friend. A fresh pair of eyes has been invaluable鈥� The PDU has also enabled us to share our approach and lessons learned with another London Borough that are on a similar journey鈥� (LEA) has made a big difference in terms of both project delivery and carbon savings.

Programme participant

Solution

We worked, together with Turner and Townsend, to assess the GLA鈥檚 existing pipeline against the requirements of funding streams, and developed an understanding of the gaps in the portfolio. We created a bespoke outreach programme to find eligible projects that would meet the KPIs of the funding streams, while still supporting longer term strategic projects.

Our stakeholder engagement has been significant. We worked with communications agency Camargue, to develop a communications programme, including a series of in-person workshops and events to help to build an understanding of the opportunity.

We created a scoring methodology for applicants that aligned with KPIs and strategic London objectives. We then used the methodology alongside a technical critique of applicants to appraise a pipeline of projects for development funding.

The project has exceeded the KPIs: To date about 13MW of renewable energy capacity has been installed against a target of 3MW. Over 7,000tCO2e/year was being saved by the end of July 2024, against a target of 6,000tCO2e/year.

We further developed a plan to identify and prioritise potential applicants for the LEA funding support, enabling the allocation of more than 拢2m of revenue funding within three months of a funding extension.

Supporting projects

Once projects were awarded, we supported them in the development of their scope to procure external consultants. We acted as a 鈥渃ritical friend鈥� throughout the project development to undertake technical reviews of external consultants鈥� work, identify next steps and unblock any obstacles.

We delivered bespoke support for projects around technical and commercial considerations. For one project we brought in support from 海角视频鈥檚 acoustics team to help derisk a low carbon solution and gain planning approval for a heat pump system.

LAEP development

Our beneficiary support included technical assistance to the local authority for the Enfield LAEP (local area energy plan) study, the first LAEP for London. We advised on the client and funder鈥檚 perspectives, developed the scope prior to consultant procurement, reviewed delivery, attended LAEP workshops, and helped Enfield develop Lessons Learned from project feedback to inform future LAEPs within the GLA boundary.

Recognising the need for standardisation of LAEPs across London, we worked with the GLA to standardise data input and output, allowing for cross-collaboration between boroughs and integration into a future visualisation platform. We also went on to deliver some of the sub-regional LAEPs for London, under a different contract.

Strategic guidance

We have supported the improvement of existing tools, such as integrating waste heat opportunities into the London Heat Map and creating a consistent template for inputs and regular updating. We have added more than 50 existing and proposed networks to the tool as well as identifying and mapping waste heat sources. Taking this data, we carried out modelling to identify the strategic potential to capture waste heat across the city.

The Waste Heat Study takes London’s 30 largest known recoverable waste heat sources and examines how they could catalyse the development of seven strategic multi-borough heat networks that can support the decarbonisation of up to 12% of heat supply in London. The study identified significant waste heat sources including but not exclusive to Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities, Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW), industrial processes, and data centres. Our River Thames Study assessed the opportunities around utilising heat from the River Thames to decarbonise both heating and cooling in areas close to its banks and how this could be strategically planned for London to ensure areas furthest away from waste heat source could benefit.

As the PDU, we were also instrumental in the successful funding bid by the GLA to establish the ‘Warm Homes Local’ programme, gaining 拢53m in central government grant funding to support the delivery of retrofits to more than 3,500 homes of low efficiency benefitting residents on low income.

This was a collaborative effort with T&T and London Councils to compile a strategic application for retrofitting social housing in London. Furthermore, the Zone Coordinator Delivery Model Assessment is leading the DMA to establish a Zone Coordinator strategy for London in anticipation of future zoning initiatives.

Ensuring quality

As the lead consultant, we were responsible for the overall quality of the multi-disciplinary outputs, following our QMS procedures (certified to ISO 9001:2015) for the project. We also reviewed the work of other consultants for technical quality and to ensure they met the criteria outlined in the grant agreement.

Value

The Local Energy Accelerator (LEA) has led to widespread benefits for London鈥檚 emerging low-carbon energy system. It has reduced carbon emissions in the city while increasing energy security, improving air quality and creating 鈥榞reen鈥� jobs and skills for Londoners.

Our efforts have unlocked more than 拢60m of capital grant leveraged through the programme, which is projected to deliver cumulative carbon savings of more than 450,000 tonnes by 2030 and a pipeline of projects of a value ~拢2 billion. We established operating relationships with 32 London boroughs, engaged with 10 NHS trusts, and worked with the top three homes providers. This has led to 海角视频 further supporting the GLA on issues such as the potential around recycling waste heat.

Notable projects supported include helping the British Library to plan how to decarbonise its more than 4GWh heating demand at its St. Pancras building through retrofit and heat pumps; supporting London Legacy Development Corporation to develop a 6MW water source heat pump scheme using water from the River Lea to decarbonise the Olympic Park heat network which serves over 5,500 residents; and supporting feasibility studies for the development of a heat network connecting the South Kensington cultural buildings – V&A, Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Imperial College – which combined represent 75 GWh of heat demand and decarbonisation could save over 14,000 tCO2e/yr.

Stakeholder questionnaires issued by the GLA have demonstrated our input has been invaluable to the acceleration of their energy projects.

Excellent support from the LEA team, very knowledgeable, with good contacts across Borough鈥檚 and Heat Networks. We couldn鈥檛 deliver the scheme without the support of the LEA team.

Programme participant