About us

Gateshead Council created Gateshead Energy Company to help meet its goal of providing cheaper, greener energy for council buildings, homes, organisations and businesses. GEC operates the award-winning Gateshead District Energy Network - the winner of the national Visionary Project Award from the Association of Decentralised Energy (ADE) in 2017.

What is Gateshead Energy Company?

Gateshead Energy Company is owned 100% by Gateshead Council, and has operated the Gateshead District Energy Network since it opened in 2017. From our base in the Gateshead Energy Centre, we provide heat and power through underground pipes and high voltage electricity cables to customers across Gateshead town centre and the Gateshead Quays area.

Our network already supplies 23 buildings and 350 homes, including The Glasshouse, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead College, our council offices, high rise homes in the town centre, and eastward to Gateshead International Stadium. In 2023, we added renewable energy sources to the network - heat from water in disused mines and power from urban solar parks. 

The network is currently expanding into easterly residential areas along the A184 - into new housing at Freight Depot, and social housing on the Old Fold estate. The network will also connect to Gateshead's proposed new arena, hotel and conference centre, The Sage.

What is a District Energy Network?

Our district energy network includes both a district heating network to deliver heat, and a private wire network to supply power.

A district heating network is a system of underground pipes that deliver heat via hot water to buildings connected to the network. The network consists of two parallel insulated pipes - one carrying hot water to the homes and the other returning the water. 

District heating is used across the world to provide cost-effective, environmentally friendly heat and hot water solutions. For example, in Denmark around 64% of homes are heated through district heating networks, with UK networks operating in Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester, London, Glasgow, and many other urban areas. 

A private wire network is a system of underground high voltage cables, which can supply power directly to larger public and commercial customers. Currently, we do not supply power to domestic customers.

Our mission 

Our mission is to provide low-carbon, low-cost heat and power for homes, businesses and public-sector buildings across Gateshead town centre. We aim to provide this through the growth and development of our existing heat and power network, while exploring new technologies and opportunities across the borough.  

We are committed to reducing our network carbon emission by 100% by 2030, to support Gateshead Council's target of having net zero carbon emissions by 2030. Heat is the largest component of the council's carbon footprint, accounting for 45% of measured carbon emissions. We believe that a heat network can decarbonise homes and buildings more cost effectively than other solutions, such as heat pumps or hydrogens. 

Our mission for growth in the heat-network sector will also support the local and green economy by creating the conditions to grow jobs and skills in zero-carbon heat-supply chains. 

How we generate our energy

From 2018, we started generating our heat and power using gas combined heat and power engines. These are more efficient than conventional gas power stations, as the waste heat can be captured and used locally. These got the network off to a good start, but longer term will be replaced with greener solutions.

In March 2023, we completed building a 6MW mine-water heat pump - the UK's largest currently - that can supply around 40% of our demands with heat recovered from abandoned mine workings, helping to decarbonise the scheme and push forward a net zero Gateshead. Two solar farms have also been added to the network, a 2.7MW site at Baltic Quays and an 0.93MW site at Gateshead Stadium, which now provide about 25% of customer power.  

Still to come 

Over the coming years the scheme will see its biggest expansion yet, connecting the following customers:  

• the first new-build housing development, 270 units on the freight depot site 
• capacity to connect Gateshead Quays - arena, conference centre and hotels
• a west extension, towards five high-rise social-housing blocks, and other large customers in the Town Centre
• supporting the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to seek grants which could connect the entire hospital site to our heat network 

Making Gateshead Thrive

Gateshead Energy Company's mission and business plan are built around the values of Thrive, which shapes all of the services provided by Gateshead Council. Thrive makes sure resources are deployed to those residents most in need of support. We support Thrive as follows:

• People - committed to providing low-cost energy to residents to save them money, and employers in Gateshead to help them stay competitive and retain jobs
• Inequalities - making green energy solution affordable for all residents and customers, regardless of financial status
• Communities - any profits made by GEC will come back to the council, to further support funding of public services across all communities in Gateshead
• Economy - Gateshead Energy Company attracts investment in local infrastructure, to further support regeneration. It also retains energy spend within Gateshead, to grow the local economy, not big energy suppliers
• Future - we aim to reduce carbon emissions to zero, helping Gateshead play its part in protecting future generations from climate change