SOAS partners in multimillion-pound initiative to decarbonise Bloomsbury heating supply
SOAS University of London has joined a collaborative project with the University of London and UCL to decarbonise the Bloomsbury estate by 99%, partly funded through a £7.2m grant from the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF).
The GHNF is a capital grant fund, part of a government-backed initiative, which supports the development of low and zero carbon heat, and cooling networks. Launched in 2022, it provides support to organisations in the public, private, and third sectors in England.
We’re proud that we as a university can support this collective effort and receive investment to ensure that SOAS, within the Bloomsbury estate, continues its path to becoming a net-zero organisation.
The £7.2m grant will contribute towards SOAS and other participating universities within the Bloomsbury estate to upgrade the existing 80-year-old gas and oil-fired system with new low carbon air source heat pumps. At SOAS, this initiative will decarbonise our energy use more than 50%.
Serving over 50,000 students in the southern half of the Bloomsbury estate, the project is estimated to drive a reduction in emissions and achieve net-zero carbon efforts across the university. The environmentally conscious system will gather most of its heating supply from air source heat pumps and electric boilers.
SOAS Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Finance & Operations Khadir Meer said:
“We’re proud that we as a university can support this collective effort and receive investment to ensure that SOAS, within the Bloomsbury estate, continues its path to becoming a net-zero organisation by 2040.
“SOAS is approaching sustainability with an even wider lens through our education and campus environment, alongside research, partnerships and community engagement – each component playing a vital role to fulfil our sustainability commitments.”
The project is scheduled for completion by 2030, and participating universities are also reviewing further decarbonisation opportunities through building fabric improvements and upgrades their estates. The £7.2m will contribute towards the overall cost of the project.
Since becoming the first London university to divest in fossil fuels in 2015, SOAS has been taking steps to create a greener, fairer and just society through our research, learning and teaching as well as our everyday operations. More details on our progress in sustainability is available on the SOAS website.
