DECC offers councils 6m for district heat schemes

Local authorities in England and Wales have been offered 6 million in grant funding to develop new and expand existing district heating networks using technologies including energy from waste and biomass combined heat and power.

According to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) which is providing the funding, councils developing ambitious and innovative proposals which produce heat via sustainable sources will be eligible for grants.

The announcement comes just weeks after the Department appointed Stephen Brooks as investment director of its Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU – whose remit will include encouraging the development of heating networks within the UK.

Commenting on the funding programme, energy and climate change minister Greg Barker, said: Increasing the use of low carbon heating in our buildings is helping to reduce our dependency on costly, imported oil and gas.

Thanks to the coalition governments support, many UK buildings have already made the switch from traditional fuels to low carbon heat sources. This new grant funding programme builds on these successes by helping local authorities develop more commercially viable low carbon heat networks.

Bids

Bidding for the scheme opens today (September 20) and will continue for 18 months through a series of six bidding rounds. Bids will be assessed through their potential for commercial development, contribution towards low carbon and energy reduction objectives and compatibility with other low carbon policies.

Southwark is among the local authorities seeking to use excess heat from energy from waste to provide heating and hot water to its community. Under plans announced last month, five estates in the south London borough will benefit from the scheme which is being rolled out by the councils waste contractor Veolia Environmental Services, using heat from the South East London Combined Heat and Power Plant (SELCHP) in Deptford.

Meanwhile, around 130 buildings in Sheffield take heat from the citys EfW plant, also run by Veolia, while schemes including Coventrys Heatline and Nottinghams EnviroEnergy are also in operation.

The Renewable Energy Association has welcomed the announcement, adding that it was pleased to see the government taking an increased interest in district heating.

A spokesman for the organisation, said: The funding announcement is very good news and it is encouraging to see DECC taking an increasing interest in District Heating as a whole. Waste-based district heating networks are a great scheme and something we are keen to promote.