Spanning 450 acres, Liverpool’s thriving Knowledge Quarter, which borders the Fabric District, is home to some of the city’s most innovative developments in science, technology and health – from the new Royal Liverpool Hospital and Liverpool Science Park to Paddington Village, Accelerator and The Spine.
All that innovation takes some energy, so members of the Fabric District CIC’s board were delighted to recently be invited to visit the Paddington Energy Centre in a meeting arranged by Liverpool City Council.
Located on the ground floor of a car park within Paddington Village, the energy centre will provide sustainable heat and power for the 30-acre, £1 billion development using an underground network of pipes. This form of district heating has the lowest carbon emissions of all fossil fuel-burning energy systems.
Inside Paddington Energy Centre
James Kilmartin from Vital Energi and Steve Hunt from EnerVate gave Jayne and Michael from the Fabric District CIC a tour of the centre, which currently supplies both heat and power to the adjacent Novotel Hotel and Spine buildings, and has the future capacity to serve the entire Paddington Village scheme.
Jayne from the Fabric District CIC said: “The tour gave a great insight into the benefits of being part of a heat network, how it is operated and maintained.
“It was also great food for thought for the Fabric District regarding energy provision, being part of any future zoning plans or existing heat networks in the locality and what this might mean for existing and future developments and occupiers in the Fabric District – both in terms of energy supply and the route to decarbonisation.”
The Knowledge Quarter and the Fabric District
The Knowledge Quarter brings together Liverpool City Region’s most influential scientific partners in infection, chemistry and computing. The physical proximity of a cluster of major facilities such as RCP North and University of Liverpool’s International College encourages collaboration and creativity.
This is designed to close the ‘skills gap’ between Merseyside and London and make sure Liverpool, and geographically the Fabric District, are at the forefront of global innovation.
