Borders College

Commissioned in 2015, Borders College is home to the UK’s first commercial heat-from-sewer installation and remains a pioneering example of wastewater heat recovery in operation. Owned and operated by Recirc Energy since 2019, the 800 kW system recovers thermal energy directly from the public sewer network, supplying approximately 50–60% of the campus’s heating requirements through a 500-metre heat network serving five boiler rooms. Having delivered more than 7 GWh of low-carbon heat, the project demonstrates the long-term reliability and significant potential of wastewater as a source of renewable heating.