We have a number of sources of renewable energy located across our campuses. When we are considering new sources, we weigh up the cost, the ongoing maintenance and the increasing cleanliness of the energy that we are able to purchase from outside.
You wouldn’t necessarily know it, but the University has its own power plant on Highfield Campus, generating electricity that’s used across the site.
While many power plants will waste heat by releasing it into the sea or as steam into the air, we capture it and distribute it in a series of pipes underneath the campus - called a district heating system. This is used to heat water, buildings and even the swimming pool.
The Combined Heat and Power plant (CHP) was a significant investment for the University that has saved thousands of tonnes of carbon over more than a decade, but as energy from the grid in the UK becomes cleaner, we will be considering whether it is the most sustainable way for us to power and heat Highfield Campus.