A heat network is one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing carbon emissions from heating. Their efficiency and carbon-saving potential increases as they grow and connect to each other. They are an essential part of our future clean energy infrastructure. Many of the cheapest sources of low-carbon heat can only be used if there is a network to distribute the heat.
Once the network is in place, heat that otherwise goes to waste can be harnessed and used: for example waste heat from industry, from power stations or from low temperature heat sources such as from data centres. Heat can even be taken from the rivers and canals that run through many town centres and from the warm mine-water left in old coal mines.
Heat networks can mean lower bills for consumers. The Government will only support heat networks which can provide heat at prices no higher than the alternatives, and we will be specifically encouraging those that can show they will be able to cut bills. Bill savings of at least 30% have been achieved when replacing electric heaters in tower blocks. In this way heat networks can help in our battle against fuel poverty too.
New infrastructure investment is a catalyst for local growth. Local authorities often incorporate heat networks – sometimes with Combined Heat and Power plants to provide local electricity too – to drive regeneration and attract new business.
The energy system, like the whole economy, is an integrated and complex system. Heat networks can have a beneficial impact on the stability and cost-effectiveness of the whole system. Such benefits will take time to realise, but we know that a large heat network system, especially when combined with a large thermal store (hot water tank), offers a cheap and easy way of storing energy until it is needed. This can include taking any surplus supplies of electricity and converting them to useable heat, to the benefit of the overall energy system.