Ministers visit Clydebank’s ‘model’ Queens Quay heat pump

The heat pump network which is situated in Clydebank’s Queens Quay development was visited by Scottish Ministers today (August 15) as they look towards future planning.

Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, Shona Robison and Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee visited the network inside the development three years after its opening in 2021.

Scottish Finance Secretary, Shona Robison on a tour around the heat pump (Image: Gordon Terris)Ivan Mckee and Shona Robison were taken on a tour of the heat pump (Image: Gordon Terris) The network has been praised for using water from the Clyde to create heat to pump into the local houses, health centres, offices and leisure centres.

The Queens Quay development offers 1,000 new diverse homes, 500,000 square feet of office space, a leisure centre, a new care home and a health centre together with the heat pump.

Within the site, 146 homes are allocated to social housing which was completed in 2022.

The project is supported by capital funding from the Scottish Government through the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transformation Programme (LCITP) and West Dunbartonshire Council the proposed Energy Supply Company (ESCO).

The initial phase of the heat pump operations is supplying heat to the Council offices at Aurora House, the Titan Enterprise Centre, Clydebank Leisure Centre and the new care home at the site, Queens Quay House.

The heat pump is marketed to make Clydebank one of the greenest areas in the country despite national concerns over the cost of electricity used in their systems.

A view of the heat pump inside the network (Image: Newsquest)Ivan McKee, visiting the heat pump, said: “It’s great to see this amazing facility with heat pumps, and the district heating system because that's the future of energy and Clydebank is right at the heart of that.

“The discussions today have been about some of the barriers that stop us from expanding this. Some things in the energy market we need to address ourselves and with the UK Government as a lot of that power is reserved to get the pricing of electricity in the right place so that this system which provides reliable heat to local homes, businesses and other organisations can be expanded and then rolled out right across the country.

“Clydebank has a huge amount to offer and the fact that right on the river with that source of heat powers the heat pump.

“This is a model that we can roll out across the rest of the country. It's great to see Clydebank at the forefront of it.”