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Council’s energy projects

Our Carbon Roadmap and Natural Assets plan detail how we will reduce our carbon emissions, help the borough reduce its carbon emissions and improve the area’s natural environment.

We will use our strengths as an organisation to enable and inspire others, to guide where our resources are best placed to have the maximum impact.

Our ambition is to drive change, leading by example to achieve the 2040 net zero carbon target. Alongside tackling climate change, we are also looking at the use of nature-based solutions to reverse biodiversity loss and improve residents physical and mental wellbeing.

Here are some of the projects we have been working on to achieve this.

Projects

Building on the success of Smart Energy Greater Lincolnshire, the Smarter Energy North East Lincolnshire project is available to small, medium businesses in North east Lincolnshire.

With rising energy costs and a growing demand for a zero-carbon future, it is critical for businesses to consider their carbon footprint and future sustainability.

Delivered in a unique partnership with NELC, E-Factor and Grimsby Community Energy, Smarter Energy North East Lincolnshire can help local businesses. The project provides expert advice, an audit of the business, identification of opportunities to save energy and estimated costs and carbon savings, access to grant funding for small energy saving projects, webinars, workshops, and conference access.

Please follow link below to find out more and to apply.

Project ends 31 March 2023.

Smarter Energy NEL.

A project delivered from April 2018 to September 2021 to promote, innovate and adopt energy efficiency and renewable energy in Greater Lincolnshire.

The programme has seen over 260 businesses and public building owners supported to implement energy saving advice and measures, with a total of 2,500 businesses undertaking some engagement with the issues. This work has saved 3,678 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Find out all about the project on Smart Energy Greater Lincolnshire.

The council has installed photovoltaic (PV) solar panels in Eight of our buildings across the borough.

Over a 20-year period this sustainable system is expected to reduce the amount of carbon produced by the council by around 3,600 tonnes.

EQUANs will provide just under 500kWp of electricity generation through PV panels, which cover an area of approximately 3,000m2. This means the council will be able to utilise around 400,000kWh of renewable power each year.

The programme of works to upgrade the borough’s street lamps with more cost-effective LED lights has been completed.

Over 19,000 street lights have been upgraded as part of the £7.8 million project.

The new white-light LEDs have resulted in a clearer and cleaner light that improves visibility, while also making substantial savings in energy and carbon emissions. This has saved about £350,000 per year in energy and maintenance costs, as well as reducing carbon emissions by 35 per cent.

We are now exploring other potential options on the replacement of street lighting and lighting in open spaces, to see if there is any additional carbon and financial savings that can be made.

As part of the Carbon Roadmap, launched in December 2021, the Council set out its continued desire to explore heat network opportunities for our own buildings, and to undertake fact-finding with utilities, looking at the future potential for a decentralised energy supply.

It will take around 12 months, for a project like this, to reach the stages where a business case can be considered, and commercial aspects (scheme design) can commence. It may take two or three years to commission and begin operating a network. The Council appointed a consultant in January 17 to work on the first two stages, “Heat Mapping” and “Energy Master Planning”, to identify the areas of North East Lincolnshire which offered greatest potential. The findings of the work can be read in the Heat mapping and master planning in NE Lincs – Final Report (PDF, 5MB) .

Central Heat Network Detailed Project Design Stage

The Council are procuring a project manager and technical experts, to undertake a detailed assessment of the central area. This is to understand whether heat networks and other renewable solutions will be commercially viable for businesses and provide carbon reducing solutions for new homes. The project is due to commence in June 2022 and due to report on findings in June 2023.

Other NEL areas are being considered for taking forward to the next stages.

In December 2021, North East Lincolnshire Council cut down selected sections of scrub at Cleethorpes, working with Natural England, as part of a project called Dynamic Dunescapes.

This project works to rejuvenate coastal sand dune habitats in England and Wales, funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund and EU LIFE Programme. This work was planned in partnership with the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

For the past 25 years, Cleethorpes Dunes have been the focus of coppicing and removal at five-year intervals. By regularly coppicing and clearing some areas of sea buckthorn and scrub, diversity is introduced back into the habitat.

The result is a range of age, height, and plant structure within the habitat, with overgrown grassland once again exposed, and new growth flourishing. Not all scrub is removed; areas of woody growth are chosen to remain, to continue to support birdlife.

The Cycle Superhighway project was jointly funded by North East Lincolnshire Council and the Greater Lincolnshire LEP and provides a key piece of highway infrastructure linking the towns of Grimsby and Immingham with the new Pioneer Business Park at Stallingborough and the wider South Humber Bank. 

The new cycle routes will support employees who are looking for a low carbon way of getting to and from work. They’ll also encourage sustainable access to the CATCH training facility for students and staff. 

The project is complemented by other interventions including adult cycle training, workplace-based cycle maintenance roadshows and an e-bike loan schemes aimed at local employees.

InvestNEL – Investment information for North East Lincolnshire

DiscoverNEL – Information about working, staying and playing in North East Lincolnshire

Dynamic Dunescapes – Information about the project in Lincolnshire

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