A COUNCIL has won an £83,000 Government grant to see if the Ardley incinerator can heat eco homes.

Cherwell District Council had asked for £144,000 for a feasibility study to use steam from the Ardley incinerator to heat 6,000 homes and businesses.

The council will use the cash to look at installing a specialist pipe system between the incinerator and the eco settlement to transfer heat to homes.

Sustainability charity BioRegional and Cherwell will work together on it. Nigel Morris, lead member for clean and green, said: “The core foundation of the north west Bicester eco-town is to create sustainable living. By recycling wasted heat to provide low carbon energy for homes, this project fits that criteria perfectly.

“However, while the idea works in principle, the practicalities of this scheme need to be investigated further and this money will enable us to do that before we proceed.”

The incinerator, which will burn up to 300,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste and generate enough electricity for the National Grid to power more than 38,000 homes, has planning approval at Ardley for 30 years.

The study will also look at alternative heat sources in case the incinerator’s planning consent is not renewed.