£57 Million Awarded to Green Heat Network Projects in Leeds, London, and Barnsley

Five newly funded green heat network projects across London, Leeds, and Barnsley are set to deliver low-carbon heat to approximately 17,000 new homes, commercial spaces, and public buildings, with an anticipated reduction of over 385,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Today, these projects were announced as the latest beneficiaries of £57 million in government support through the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF).

In Leeds, a significant boost of £24.5 million will go towards expanding the LeedsPIPES network at one of Europe's largest brownfield regeneration sites. This expansion will enable an additional 8,000 homes and buildings to tap into a low-carbon heat network fueled by local waste heat sources. The new funding will also facilitate the integration of two energy-from-waste plants into the network, collectively generating 30GWh of low-carbon heat annually.

London's Clapham Park, Brent Cross town developments, and the West King Street project in Hammersmith and Fulham are poised to receive a combined £20.2 million. This investment will connect 8,500 new homes and businesses to heat networks powered by large-scale air and ground source heat pumps, enhancing the city's green energy infrastructure.

In Barnsley, a £12.6 million grant will fund a multi-source heat pump project aimed at decarbonizing heating for various existing businesses and public sector buildings. Additionally, the project will explore capturing waste heat from a nearby industrial manufacturing plant, further boosting its sustainability credentials.

Through their innovative approaches to harnessing low-carbon heat, these projects represent a significant step forward in the UK's efforts to transition to sustainable energy and significantly reduce carbon emissions.

"The Green Heat Network Fund, like the Heat Networks Investment Project before it, has helped to prove the technical and commercial efficacy of district heating in a variety of different use cases," said Ken Hunnisett, programme director for the Fund's delivery partner Triple Point Heat Networks Investment Management. "The projects announced today are a reminder that modern heat networks are at their brilliant best in our large, densely built towns and cities. The £57m investment announced today is great news for the Fund, great news for the 17,000 homes and buildings that will benefit from low-carbon, low-cost heating, great news for an industry that is growing almost before our eyes, and great news for the planet."

However, he also warned that the latest projects were "a relative drop in the ocean, of course, when you consider the £80bn the sector is forecast to require if it is to fulfill its enormous potential".

The newly secured funding will also support upcoming developments that align with the Future Homes and Buildings Standard, which will take effect next year and is anticipated to effectively prohibit the installation of gas boilers in new homes. This initiative is part of a broader push to meet evolving environmental regulations and reduce reliance on fossil fuels in residential heating.

This update coincides with growing demands for the government to accelerate the deployment of heat pumps and home insulation projects. The urgency has intensified following Ofgem's announcement that domestic energy bills are expected to rise by an average of 10 percent starting in October, further straining household budgets.

Additionally, the Committee on Fuel Poverty has recently highlighted the shortcomings of current policy efforts, noting that little progress has been made in reducing the number of fuel-poor households in England over the past five years. The Committee has called for a significant "reset, refresh, and new focus" on policies addressing persistently high energy bills, emphasizing the need for more robust action to alleviate the burden on vulnerable populations.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, Minister for Energy Consumers, said, "Building new, greener heat networks is just one of the ways we are investing in clean power, helping to finally secure our country's energy independence."

"These exciting new projects will see thousands of homes and businesses benefit from cleaner, low-cost heating - leading to lower energy bills and creating hundreds of jobs," she added.

The newly funded schemes in Leeds, Barnsley, and London are the latest to join a growing list of projects that have secured government backing under the Green Heat Network Fund. These projects now stand alongside similar initiatives in Exeter, Hull, Bolton, and London, benefiting from the £288 million capital grant programme launched in the spring of 2022.

John Lewis, the head of building engineering for the UK and Ireland at AECOM, which has been instrumental in the technical design of the LeedsPIPES network, emphasized the importance of heat networks in achieving the UK's 2050 net zero target. According to the Committee on Climate Change, these networks are expected to deliver approximately 18 percent of the UK's heat by mid-century. They are crucial to the nation's strategy to reduce carbon emissions and transition to a sustainable energy future.