Scotland’s first fifth-generation renewable energy network has won the Scottish Government –Delivering Excellence Award at the COSLA Excellence Awards.
The awards celebrate the incredible teams, projects, and services that Scottish local government delivers for communities and Renfrewshire Council staved off fierce competition from fellow finalists Inverclyde Council and Shetland Islands Council to take home the award.
Delivered by Renfrewshire Council, the District Heating Network (DHN) at the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) provides heating and hot water to businesses based at the Renfrewshire site, including its two world-class innovation centres – the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland and the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre.
The DHN takes treated water headed for the White Cart River and redirects it to a new energy centre built next to the sewage works in Paisley. From there, low temperature heat between five and 18 degrees is extracted through a heat plate exchanger and distributed around a 3.7km loop of underground pipes, creating energy 90% greener than a gas boiler for all current and future developments within AMIDS.
Renfrewshire Council Leader Iain Nicolson said: “It’s fantastic to see this state-of-the-art project gaining the recognition it deserves as it is able to deliver environmental and economic benefits to AMIDS and the businesses based within it.
“The network is helping businesses to manufacture in a cleaner, greener way, using renewable energy to support their drive to meet net-zero goals, while being cost-effective too.
“It is available to all current and future AMIDS tenants and is a real selling point for the district to attract new investment into the area as we continue to position Renfrewshire as Scotland’s home for manufacturing innovation.”
The COSLA Excellence Awards are an annual celebration of success and innovation in Scottish Local Government and more than 200 applications were received this year from Scotland’s 32 councils, with applications shortlisted by experts across local and national government and the public and private sectors.
Councillor Shona Morrison, President of COSLA and Chair of the 2024 Excellence Awards, said: “I’d like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our winners! It has been an honour to chair the 2024 COSLA Excellence Awards. This is my second year of the Awards as COSLA President, and being part of the process, from judging entries to presenting the awards to the deserving winners remains a highlight of my year.
“The Excellence Awards serve as an important reminder that councils are here for our communities every day, supporting us in all aspects of our lives – from resolving day-to-day issues; to supporting people experiencing some of the most unprecedented and difficult circumstances imaginable.
“This year’s entries and winners highlighted how important it is that we work collaboratively across these sectors to deliver for our communities, so I am very glad we were able to bring colleagues together to celebrate these wonderful joint achievements.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our event sponsors and partners for making this year’s Awards possible; and of course, to every single team who put in an application – not only for your hard work in putting together your application, but for your commitment to making Scotland’s communities better, safer places to be every single day.”
For more information on the DHN, visit www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/district-heating-network
