UK smart grid-powered electric homes to be installed along historic MG Rover site

St. Modwen, community and homes developer, has announced plans to deliver up to 350 new all-electric homes powered by a smart grid to ensure each is entirely gas-free. The homes will be developed along the historic MG Rover site in Longbridge that was once home to the MINI in Birmingham, UK.

Electricity will be supplied and tracked across the smart grid network for each home to ensure this first phase of buildings will be gas-free.

Outline planning was secured for the Longbridge site in 2021 for a total of 350 new homes. Detailed planning for the first phase is currently with the local authority and new homes are expected to be built by St. Modwen Homes from Autumn 2022.

The site has been made possible following £20 million ($24.3 million) of infrastructure investment in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

“By introducing carbon-negative homes and smart-grid powered developments…we’re proving that greener homes can be delivered at commercial scale,” stated Sarwjit Sambhi, CEO of St. Modwen.

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Longbridge has been regenerated with homes, retail, education and green spaces delivered to date. On completion of the regeneration, St. Modwen has stated further plans to create a total of 3,000 new homes, 2 million square feet of commercial floorspace and up to 10,000 jobs at Longbridge.

The project is believed to be the first to be used by a major developer and the smart grid design is being developed alongside SNRG, specialists in next generation energy infrastructure.

The announcement follows the launch earlier in 2022 of St. Modwen’s first carbon-negative homes, a trial that makes homes airtight to enable them to return power to the UK grid.

According to St Mowden, these carbon-negative homes are designed to produce more energy than they consume and could reduce a family’s total energy bills by 76% when compared with a standard new-build house.

Aspects of this trial will be deployed in the new all-electric homes and in turn across all new developments by St. Modwen as carbon-reducing technology becomes standard.