Caithness Heat and Power: Update
The Highland Council, through Caithness Heat and Power Ltd, is to seek a partner from the private sector to provide a new sustainable biomass district heating system in Wick for existing CHaP customers.
It is to initiate a procurement process to invite formal bids to fund, design, install and operate the new equipment required to connect into the existing pipework network.
This process is likely to take around 11 months to conclude. The aim is to negotiate a contract which ensures the provision of a reliable service, based on proven technology and long term commitment.
Residents have received a letter updating them on developments, which assures them that the Council is committed to continuing to operate the existing district heating system until any new contract is signed.
Convener Councillor Sandy Park said: “The way forward agreed by the Council at its meeting on Thursday (7 May) offers the potential for an outcome which achieves two of the original project objectives, including a district heating scheme fuelled by a local renewable source and the alleviation of fuel poverty in the area. Our officials will now get on with the task of attracting a partner to provide a new district heating system.”
Wick Councillor Katrina MacNab, a member of the ChaP Board of Directors, fully supports the way forward for the project.
She said: “The Board is receiving tremendous support from senior officers in taking this project forward. I am grateful for the support of councillors for allowing us the time to find a private sector partner to provide a new district heating system. Our aim is to secure an outcome which continues to offer existing customers their heat and hot water at reasonable prices.”
She said the local community could be assured that the Council would fully examine the reasons why the aims of the original project were not fulfilled.
By way of background, Caithness Heat and Power CHaP was set up in December 2004 to own and manage a wood-fired combined heat and power system, on land neighbouring Pulteneytown Distillery at Wick. The project aimed to provide heat and hot water to 500 local homes at Pulteneytown via a district heating system and also generate income from the sale of electricity to the National Grid via a gasification plant. In further phases it was envisaged that the plant would provide heat and hot water to a wider community.
Initially, the company was a community-owned enterprise. As the result of experiencing significant financial and technical difficulties, CHaP became a single member company, that single member being The Highland Council. Having been a major funder of the company since it was set up, the Council took over the running of the company in an attempt to ensure a sustainable future for the operation.
At this time, the Council introduced improved governance arrangements; set up a senior operational support team to support and manage the company; and addressed a number of health and safety issues. Arrangements have also been introduced to address the heating customer debt position inherited by the Board.