Seven projects, including the UK’s first to draw heat from granite rocks deep underground, are to receive a share of £91 million via the Government’s Green Heat Network Fund.
Heat networks take heat found underground or use excess heat generated through manufacturing or waste management, and supply heating and hot water to homes and businesses through a connected network, allowing them to transition away from the use of fossil fuels, plus reduce costs and carbon emissions.
The Green Heat Network Fund is a 3 year, £288 million initiative that Government launched in March 2022 with the aim of supporting the construction of low and zero carbon heat networks, and increasing the deployment of associated technologies including heat pumps, solar and geothermal.
Commenting on this latest funding, Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, said:
“The UK is a world leader when it comes to reducing carbon emissions – but we must continue to push the boundaries to reach our net zero goal.
“These innovative projects will not only benefit the communities they serve, by reducing emissions and providing low-cost heating that helps to drive down energy bills, but also support the nation’s push for greater energy security and independence.
“They form part of our energy revolution – creating hundreds of new jobs for our ever-expanding green economy.”
The latest organisations & projects to receive support from the Green Heat Networks Fund are:
- Bradford Energy Limited – £20 million to build an air source heat pump heat network, to supply businesses and other buildings in the city centre.
- Cornwall Council – £22 million to develop the Langarth Deep Geothermal Heat Network – the first of its kind in the UK that will use geothermal energy from hot granite rocks beneath Cornwall to heat 3,800 local homes and public facilities in the region.
- East Riding of Yorkshire Council – £12 million to create the new Goole District Energy Network, that will use waste heat from a manufacturing plant to power local homes and businesses, cutting the town’s carbon emissions by 322,000 tonnes over 40 years and creating 40 new skilled jobs.
- Rotherham Energy Limited – £25 million to build a new Rotherham Energy Network to deliver a heating and hot water to 34 homes and businesses in the town centre.
- Kirklees Council – £8.2 million to create the Huddersfield District Energy Network, that will provide low-carbon heat and electricity to public and private sector buildings in and around the centre of the town.
- East London Energy – £1.76 million to expand the heat network to supply more homes in and around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford.
- The University of Reading – £2.1 million to help decarbonize its Whiteknights Campus, currently powered by a combined heat and power led district heating network.
The announcement follows the launch of the £32 million Heat Network Efficiency Scheme in February this year, through which Government wishes to have vital upgrades made to old and inefficient heat networks.
