Out of Steam

The last traces of the old steam heating and hot water network have been removed from Imperial's South Kensington Campus.

As the temporary infrastructure and safety hoardings were removed over summer 2024 and the space returned to normal use, people may forget what a significant transformation has taken place.

This major programme finally ends Imperial's reliance on old gas-fired steam boilers, an ageing infrastructure up to 60 years old in places.  More importantly, it reduces Imperial's carbon footprint towards its aim of achieving a net-zero estate by 2040.

In 2022 Imperial was awarded a Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme grant of more than £12m which contributed towards the c. £40m cost of this project to remove the steam-based heating network, one of the largest in London.

By moving the whole of the South Kensington Campus to a low-temperature hot water system running at 80oC they are prepared for future heat decarbonisation as part of their Net Zero Strategy.

There are some steam-specific services remaining on campus, but these are purely for necessary research programmes and not part of the heating and hot water network.