UK town creates digital twin to help deliver net zero future

Using EPC data to gather information on 50,000 residential properties within the borough, including build characteristics, age band, main heating system and gross floor area, archetype models were created of four main types of homes: detached houses; semi-detached houses; terraced houses; and apartments.

These models were then used to create a holistic view of the area integrating electricity, heating, cooling, waste heat networks and shared energy links across buildings. From this, supply and demand from buildings and community assets were assessed to determine the flexibility required across the study area to balance demand and evaluate “what if” scenarios for intelligent operation.

Decarbonisation

Using the results for three different retrofit scenarios, approaches for full decarbonisation of the district, were simulated. This was initially assessed for two different neighbourhoods of around 500 homes and potential energy savings of up to 56 per cent were identified.

The most optimal solutions for decarbonising were found for each area. In one neighbourhood, the basic retrofit, following the installation of district heating, air source heat pumps and mass PV and community storage, would result in a 41 per cent annual energy cost saving, worth £583 per household. The maximum retrofit scenario along with the same interventions would see a 56 per cent reduction in energy costs per year, equivalent to £795 per household at the time the simulations were run in 2020.

The overall cost of the interventions would be £2m to £5m per neighbourhood depending on the retrofit scenario, but this didn’t take district heating systems, domestic heat pumps or EV chargers into account, which could all add to costs significantly.

Using the digital twin simulation of two neighbourhoods within the borough, it was demonstrated that once all interventions were applied, an annual saving of 2,000-2,500 tonnes of CO2 would be possible. This would result in both these neighbourhoods becoming net zero with only a very small amount of carbon offsetting required.

“These models are easily replicable to any UK city and hold a huge amount of potential in bolstering the country’s progression towards net-zero, so we really hope to see more councils implementing this kind of technology”

“A shared central database and interconnected tools have allowed data and analysis to be easily shared between key stakeholders within this project, laying out some pathways for potential future decarbonisation,” said councillor Janet Henshaw, Warrington Borough Council, cabinet member for sustainability and climate change.

She added: “Using the model to full effect will allow the council to see various possible optimisation scenarios and understand the potential return on investment for associated decarbonisation initiatives.”

Fergus Ross, ICL project manager at IES, said: “Working with Warrington Borough Council on the Rewire North West project has shown how we can quantify energy-saving measures and support local councils in seeking to secure investment in decarbonisation initiatives. These models are easily replicable to any UK city and hold a huge amount of potential in bolstering the country’s progression towards net-zero, so we really hope to see more councils implementing this kind of technology.”