Bradford Energy Centre gets the green light

1Energy, the company behind the £40m Bradford Energy Network, has secured planning permission for the construction and operation of its proposed Energy Centre.The Energy Centre will be located on the southern section of a cleared site located at the junction of Thornton Road and Listerhills Road in Bradford city centre.It will house the Air Source Heat Pumps that will offer low carbon heating for key buildings across the city centre, providing an alternative to current forms of heating which rely on burning fossil fuels and have a much higher carbon footprint.The Energy Centre will distribute heat through a network of underground pipes that connect to key buildings. The pipe network is already under construction.The operation of the Energy Centre and the process of connecting customers to the network is expected to create five full-time and five part-time jobs.Jeremy Bungey, co-founder and director of 1Energy, said: “The Bradford Energy Network will be a landmark project not only for Bradford, but also the UK. Bradford will be the country’s first major city centre to have a low-carbon heat network that utilises an air source heat pump at this scale. While the construction of the underground pipe network is already well underway, this decision will allow us to press on with the Energy Centre, which will be a statement building, designed to reflect the proud industrial heritage of the location.”We are delighted to have found this well-located site from where we can deliver this key piece of low carbon infrastructure that will prove so vital to the future of the city centre. Investing in Bradford’s development is at the centre of our company’s aims. Delivery of the Network will continue to progress at pace and we expect construction of the Energy Centre to begin later this year with a planned completion date of late 2025.”