A new £95 million heat network is set to provide low-carbon heating for Milton Keynes buildings, starting with the city’s NHS university hospital.
The scheme will take wasted heat from data centres and from an energy centre located in the north of the city that will be powered by heat pumps.
This heat will then be transported along a 20km network of underground water pipes to provide heating for buildings, with the scheme set to be completed in 2027.
Developers 1Energy said Milton Keynes University Hospital has signed on as its “anchor customer”, giving investors the certainty of long-term revenue.
The firm said it is currently in negotiations with several other significant heat users across Milton Keynes.
The project has received £17.6 million in funding from the Government’s green heat network fund and has secured more than £78 million of private capital, meaning it will be built at no cost to the local council or community.
1Energy said 100 gigawatt hours of energy will be generated through the network each year, equivalent to the heat needed for 20,000 homes.
It will initially heat 74 large buildings, with longer term ambitions to start heating households in the area.
Called the Milton Keynes Energy Network, the scheme will help to cut customers’ reliance on fossil fuels while supporting both the NHS and the city’s ambitions to reduce net carbon emissions to zero.
Decarbonising home heating is one of the UK’s biggest challenges in its net zero ambitions, with its reliance on gas making it a key driver of the country’s fossil fuel dependence.
Developers have projected the Milton Keynes scheme will cut 15,000 tonnes of emissions a year – the equivalent of planting 238,000 trees – because of the 75% reduction in heating emissions for the connected buildings, compared to gas boilers.
The hope is also to slash air pollution around the buildings by 80%, protect public services from sudden energy price hikes, and boost the local economy by creating more than 100 jobs.
Tony Marsh, director of estates and facilities at Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This partnership will allow us to cut carbon emissions significantly while ensuring our heating infrastructure is resilient and future ready.
“As a healthcare provider, we have a responsibility to protect both the health of our patients and the health of our planet, and this project enables us to do both.”
Jeremy Bungey, executive director of 1Energy, said: “Our mission is to decarbonise heat — one of the toughest challenges in reaching net zero.
“The Milton Keynes Energy Network is a vital step in that journey, delivering efficient, low-carbon heating infrastructure that cuts emissions, improves energy security, and supports public services like the NHS.
“It’s also an example of how we can repurpose waste heat into community value, powering a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future.”
The energy centre that will help to provide heat to the network will be located adjacent to Linford Wood, just north of the city centre, and will be powered by large air source heat pumps, which extract heat from the air and turn it into useable heating – like a fridge in reverse.
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