COUNCIL leaders, housing companies and Japanese technologists have formally launched a 600-home smart heat project.

The ground-breaking project aims to reduce energy demand and cut carbon emissions in council houses.

Mike Kelly, chief executive of Bury Council, and Hugh Broadbent, chairman of Six Town Housing, joined other partners from Manchester, Wigan and Japan at a launch of the scheme.

The council and Six Town will be working on upgrading 200 houses as part of phase two of the project in 2015.

The partnership between the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Japan’s New Energy Development Organisation (NEDO), will see energy demand in participating homes reduced and also trial the balancing of energy demand and supply by creating a "smart community trial".

Using advanced IT alongside the installed air source heat pumps and advanced user control panels, the project will aggregate energy demand and deliver capacity back to the energy grid when needed, while keeping homes comfortable for residents.

The partners are aiming to help switch homes from gas-fired or electric heating to renewable sourced heating.

Mr Broadbent, of Six Town Housing, said: “We are pleased to be part of this pilot which offers the prospect of keeping our tenants warm and comfortable while cutting their energy bills and our carbon emissions which is an important strategic goal for us and the council.”

Cllr Susan Southworth, cabinet member for a sustainable borough, commented: “Reducing fuel poverty among our most disadvantaged tenants, while at the same time cutting contributions to greenhouse gases, forms part of Bury Council's commitment to being a 'green' borough. Where Bury leads, we hope others will follow.”

At the heart of the project lies highly energy efficient air source heat pump technology which acts like an air conditioning unit in reverse. The heat pump compresses and condenses heat from outside a building to produce space and water heating inside, with a radically reduced carbon footprint.

Greater Manchester wants to reduce CO2 emissions by 48 per cent by 2020.