Government Allocates £91m to Provide Low-cost Heating to Homes
The government has announced it will allocate £91 million for seven heat network projects across England to help provide low-cost heating for nearly 4,000 homes. How will this drive down energy bills?
The UK’s first system drawing heat from deep underground to provide low-cost heating for nearly 4,000 homes, the Langarth Deep Geothermal Heat Network will involve drilling to a depth of 5,275 metres to extract the heat from granite rocks beneath the United Downs Industrial Site in Cornwall.
It is one of 7 state-of-the-art heating systems that will receive a share of £91 million from the government’s Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF).
The Green Heat Network Fund is a £288 million scheme that opened in March 2022 to public, private, and third-sector applicants in England. It is anticipated to run to 2025 and replaced the Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP) scheme which closed for applications in January 2022.
In contrast with the HNIP scheme, the GHNF scheme will only fund heat network projects where there is a low-carbon heat source.
The project will boost the UK’s energy security
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.
This allows them to ditch fossil fuels burning gas and oil boilers, which helps cut costs and reduce carbon emissions. The project will boost the UK’s energy security and independence and will help to deliver on the government’s commitment to grow the economy. In addition, the schemes are expected to create hundreds of new, skilled jobs.
Among the 7 ground-breaking projects to benefit from the latest round of funding is the development of a heat network in Goole. It is using excess heat generated by a local manufacturing plant to supply heating to local homes and businesses, creating 40 jobs.
Another is the expansion of a heat network in East London to supply heating to 2 new developments in and around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, serving around 500 new homes and 250 non-domestic premises.
Thousands of homes will be provided with cheaper and greener energy
Ken Hunnisett, Programme Director for Triple Point Heat Networks Investment Management, delivery partner for the GHNF and HNIP, explained that the funding announced will help push the housing sector to become more sustainable.
Ken said: “From Cornwall to London, Reading to Rotherham, funding announced today will go far to help us reach our net zero ambitions and provide clean heating across residential and commercial buildings.”
We are excited to work with the teams in each of these locations to deliver these new heating infrastructure projects to help them deliver on their green goals and make a real difference to how we heat our buildings.
This announcement follows the launch of the £32 million Heat Network Efficiency Scheme by the government in February to make vital upgrades to old and inefficient heat networks and provide thousands of homes in England and Wales with cheaper, greener energy.
The funding will pave the way for low-carbon technologies, like air-source heat pumps, to be delivered at scale and established as a central source of energy in the country.
