Today (October 3), it was announced that £2.4 million in funding is being offered to 32 local authorities across England and Wales to support the development of heat network projects.
And, an additional £7 million is being offered to developers across the UK for the opportunity to develop new technologies.
Funding for the initiatives is coming through the Department of Energy & Climate Change’s Heat Network Delivery Unit (HNDU).
The government is seeking to see more heat sourced via heat networks, which it claims can help to heat buildings more efficiently.
Commenting on the scheme, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, said: “Recovering wasted heat from industrial plants or landfill sites means we can heat our homes and businesses more efficiently, as well as helping to drive down energy bills.
“Improving the way we heat our buildings and helping local authorities fund innovative and more efficient ways of supplying lower carbon heat will also reduce our dependency on costly imported gas.”
Funding
Successful local authorities will be offered grants ranging from around £10,000 to £250,000 to kick-start heat network projects in England and Wales. The HNDU may also provide other types of support and guidance to successful councils, including assistance in developing business plans which attract commercial investment to supply heat efficiently and cost-effectively to homes and businesses.
During the second round of HNDU funding earlier this year, Bath and North East Somerset council successfully secured £95,000 to help identify and evaluate low carbon heat networks in the area. In July this year, the council introduced policy requirements which require all new builds to meet carbon targets.
A fourth round of HNDU funding will open to local authorities in England and Wales on October 16.
Among the district heating schemes already in operation in England is that run by Veolia from the South East London Combined Heat and Power Plant (SELCHP), which was switched on in late 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).
A project to source heat from the Edmonton incinerator is also underway, which Enfield council hopes will roll out to housing estates in the borough by 2015 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Meanwhile, around 130 buildings in Sheffield take heat from the city’s EfW plant, also run by Veolia, while schemes including Coventry’s Heatline and Nottingham’s EnviroEnergy are also in operation.
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