Green 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 2030 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 going on across the borough the council, communities and businesses have been working on to achieve this.
Council projects
Building on the success of Smart Energy Greater Lincolnshire, the Smarter Energy North East Lincolnshire project was available to small and 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 supported local business. The project provided 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.
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.
The Smart Energy programme upgraded heating and lighting and fitted renewable energy systems to many of NELC’s buildings, and to public buildings across Greater Lincolnshire. The project used energy and carbon dashboards to enable the Council to see energy usage within our buildings.
Find out all about the project on Smart Energy Greater Lincolnshire.
The Council has installed photovoltaic (PV) solar panels in 11 of our buildings across the borough. The buildings are:
- Cleethorpes Civic Offices,
- Grimsby Leisure Centre,
- Grimsby Health and Wellbeing Centre,
- Bradley Football Development Centre,
- Immingham Swimming Pool,
- Europarc Innovation Centre,
- Cromwell House,
- Waltham Library,
- King George V Stadium,
- Grimsby Municipal Offices,
- Cleethorpes Leisure Centre
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) .
A feasibility study was completed in 2024 exploring the viability of a heat network in the area of Alexandra Dock and incorporating surrounding public sector and commercial properties through a phased approach.
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.
Business and community projects
At the council, we are keen to find out more about the different business and community projects happening in our area. Please get in touch with us using the contact details on this page.
Here are some examples of business and community projects working to achieve this in our area.
Phillips 66 operates the Immingham Combined Heat and Power plant, one of the greenest power stations in the world generating 730 MW of electricity.
It produces electricity and creates steam, which is used by the nearby Humber and Lindsey refineries. The plant, together with the Humber refinery, is part of an ultra-low-carbon integrated energy hub.
The Phillips 66 Humber Refinery is a major player behind Humber Zero, a project that combines carbon capture and storage technology with hydrogen production, to decarbonize the Immingham industrial cluster.
Phillips 66 and VPI-Immingham are investing a combined £12.5 million to advance the project, with Innovate UK’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund matching the amount.
Find out more about the Carbon Capture project at Immingham.
Proximity to the UK’s largest port complex, Europe’s food town and the agricultural hinterland of Lincolnshire, makes the area extremely attractive for green energy facilities.
Companies involved in bioenergy and biomass projects in the area include:
- Total
- Vireol
- Helius/RWE Innogy
Previously known as Big Community Switch.
We’ve joined with more communities across the UK under one name – Switch Together. Switch Together is a free scheme that could help you save money on your energy bills.
It’s easy and there is no obligation to accept the offer. All you need to provide your contact details, the name of your energy supplier and details of your current energy usage and tariff.
Find out about the Switch Together Energy.
The council gives free and impartial advice to residents on ways of reducing fuel bills and advising on schemes available for heating and insulation for your home. Increasing your energy efficiency at home can be easier than you think. There are plenty of ways to save energy that won’t affect your lifestyle.
Find out more at: home energy.
A renewable energy register has been created to showcase the installed capacity (kW) of community, residential, commercial, and industrial installations of renewable technology within North East Lincolnshire.
The register is broken down by postcode and shows both the installed technology type and capacity for each separate location, including overall installed capacity.
Analysis indicates that most of the installed capacity from renewables in North East Lincolnshire is from PV (solar) installations for domestic and commercial use, with most installations occurring in DN37.
Installed capacity reached a peak in 2014 with the following years witness to a decline, this may be in relation to the changes in feed-in tariffs (FiT) by the UK government which saw new tariff rates and rules at the beginning of 2016.
North East Lincolnshire Council continues to support Keep Britain Tidy’s campaigns, including the annual Great British Spring Clean. This included One Bag – One Difference where North East Lincolnshire Council supported residents who pledged to pick one bag of litter by loaning out equipment and rubbish bags.
As part of the Great British Spring Clean 2022, Pyewipe RiverCare, a community-led volunteer group supported by Keep Britain Tidy and Anglian Water, were out in full force in the afternoon of Friday 8 April 2022, clearing plastic pollution from the banks of the Humber Estuary.
RiverCare Programme Officer, Cate Holborn, said: “Alongside North East Lincolnshire Council, Humber Nature Partnership, and local businesses, we have formed Pyewipe RiverCare to look after the Humber Estuary, a unique and important habitat.”
“River cleans like the one for the Great British Spring Clean will help to improve the area for people and for wildlife. It’s also great fun and a good way to meet new people who share a concern for the local environment.”
North East Lincolnshire Council provides advice and guidance for organising litter picks.
Grounds Force, the North East Lincolnshire Council run ecology volunteer group, comprises of local people with an interest in their local, natural environment. Projects undertaken up to now include invasive species (IAS) management in our woodlands; native bulb planting; SSSI sand dune management; and IAS management of Local Geological Site, Kingston Gardens. In addition to Grounds Force, the council have a regular group of community volunteers who monitor and record our Special Protected Area (SPA) bird species, as well as individuals who undertake surveys including reptile and amphibian, and protected species surveys.
Follow our communications on social media pages, all upcoming ecology volunteer events are announced on there with our volunteer email [email protected], which we monitor when we have imminent projects for registration.
Social media:
Contact details
- [email protected]
- Environmental Team, Doughty Road Depot, Doughty Road, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, DN32 OLL