Bridgend Council’s Cabinet is set to be presented with an updated Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) this week (pdf).
The LAEP sets out a long-term vision for how the county intends to meet its decarbonisation policies and the county’s future energy mix – with a particular focus on home energy.
To give you the impression of how quickly things are changing, the refresh came only three years after the original plan was agreed by the Cabinet.
The main reason behind the refresh is that Welsh and UK government targets have become stricter, moving from an 80% cut in carbon emissions (compared to 1990 levels) to net-zero (producing the same amount or fewer carbon emissions than are taken away) by 2050. The plan has also been changed to take into account the accelerated roll-out of electric vehicles and EV charging points.
The plan divides Bridgend into different heating zones, each one with a tailored set of measures to reduce carbon emissions depending on the suitability of properties in each zone.
These measures include a mix of home retrofitting, district heat networks, heat pumps, solar panel installation and (subject to feasibility) possibly replacing domestic gas with hydrogen.
For example, as things stand, the Ogmore Valley and Porthcawl & South Cornelly would be the priority areas for a switch to low carbon heating as they “have large numbers of buildings well suited to a particular heating technology”. In the Ogmore Valley’s case, this would be air source heat pumps (pictured at the top), while Porthcawl & South Cornelly is suited to ground source heat pumps.
Converting the local gas network to hydrogen (partially or wholly) is a potentially cheaper option for heating than conversion to electricity, but the role of hydrogen is uncertain. There is an estimated up-front capital cost of £60million, but this could lead to savings and is considered suitable for areas close to industrial estates.
Here’s a summary of the heating proposals in each zone:
In terms of electric vehicles, it’s expected that the shift from petrol and diesel to electric and hybrid will accelerate between 2025-2035, with all road vehicles being either electric or hybrid by 2045. The LAEP estimates that 49,000 domestic EV charging points will eventually be needed in Bridgend county alone.
The estimated total cost of the energy system based on the measures identified in the Bridgend LAEP would be £4.5billion by 2040 (about £250million a year), with the capital investment element being £2.8billion (about £155million a year).
That’s just one county, so it gives you an idea of what sort of figures would be involved when you scale that up to an all-Wales level and an all-UK level.
