Government fund for heating and cooling networks

To win a share of the funding, local authorities must bring forward ambitious and innovative proposals to develop and deliver heat networks that – as much as possible – draw their heat energy from renewable, sustainable or recoverable sources.

This could include any system in which heat is generated off-site by renewable or recovered sources such as waste heat from industry, energy from waste plants and biomass combined heat and power. Many university campuses, new mixed commercial and residential developments and high-rise flats draw their heat from these systems.

The bidding process to apply for grant funding starts today (20 September 2013) and will continue for 18 months through a series of six bidding rounds. Bids will be assessed against transparent and robust criteria. These include the potential for commercial development, contribution towards low carbon and energy reduction objectives, compatibility with wider low carbon and growth agendas (where applicable) and a demonstrable commitment to robust project management and governance.

Where applications are submitted that are considered to be realistic commercial propositions, but fall short of the threshold for funding, DECC will offer advice to local authorities on how to improve their applications within that or subsequent rounds.

Recent successful heat network projects include the Olympic Park District Heating and District Cooling Network. This comprises 18 km of distribution pipes that provided the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games with efficient heating and cooling using gas and biomass boilers. This amounts to 100 MW of heating and cooling capacity, could expand to 200 MW in the future and is projected to save 11,000 tonnes of CO2 each year by 2015.