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The future of heat networks


Heat networks, along with heat pumps, hydrogen and energy efficiency, have been identified as a proven and cost-effective method of reducing the carbon intensity of heating in UK buildings in high density areas. Tom Murray, head of specification at Baxi Commercial Solutions, discusses the latest advances and how this could change the way we heat our buildings


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ccording to the latest figures, there are currently around 14,000 heat networks supplying heating and hot water to


approximately 480,000 customers in the UK. But, with the government actively supporting its growth and decarbonisation, this sector is set to scale up at pace. Heat networks are a distribution system of insulated pipes that take heat from a central source to a number of domestic or non-domestic buildings or end users. The heat source might be a facility that provides a dedicated supply to the heat network, such as a multivalent combined heat and power or heat pumps and boiler plant. Or, on a larger scale, it could be otherwise inaccessible heat recovered from industry and urban infrastructure, including incineration plants, canals and rivers, flooded coal mines or energy from waste plants. Heat networks can be fitted to new or existing buildings as part of local sustainability strategies, with the greatest carbon savings to be achieved in the retrofit sector,


Communal heat networks


Communal heat networks, which currently make up around 70% of UK heat networks, distribute heat from


Left: Tom Murray, head of specification at Baxi Commercial Solutions


a central plantroom to end users within the same building or small cluster of buildings. At Blackberry Hill, for example, Vistry Partnership’s


iconic multi-purpose development in Bristol, a central plant solution designed and manufactured offsite by Baxi Packaged Solutions feeds all the original Blackberry Hill buildings. Within individual properties, Hydraulic Interface Units (HIUs) are used to provide an interface between the heat network and the end user, removing the need for gas or electric boilers. HIUs can be contained within prefabricated or


preassembled utility cupboards, as is the case in the 93 flats at Valiant House, a 17-storey residential block run by housing association Charlton Triangle Homes.


District heat networks


District heat networks distribute heat from an energy centre to end users in a large number of separate buildings, for example universities, large hospitals and city centres. Substations provide hydraulic separation between one part of a heat network and another, for example another building or part of a building. They are part of the distribution network and often the interface between a building and district heating scheme.


Accelerating heat network expansion


While only 2% of heat in the UK is currently supplied by heat networks, the government recognises they could supply around a fifth of heat by 2050. So how does it intend to reach the scale of expansion


required? First by bringing in regulation of the industry, potentially as early as 2024, to provide consumer protection. It intends to appoint Ofgem as the heat networks regulator for Great Britain to ensure that heat networks can contribute to delivering net zero in the most sustainable and cost- effective way. It is also providing new funding through the Green Heat Networks Fund (GHNF), which covers England and Wales. The GHNF follows the Heat Networks Investment Programme but imposes a requirement that all new networks use low-carbon heat sources. Heat Network Zoning Pilot Heat network zoning, which the government has


committed to introducing in England by 2025, is a key policy solution. The Heat Network Zoning Pilot Programme (HNZPP), which launched in February 2022, is being conducted in 28 English cities and towns of varying sizes. The aim of the pilot is to identify areas where heat networks could provide the best route to low carbon, cost-effective heating compared with the other methods previously identified for decarbonisation.


Commercial buildings


So what could this mean for commercial buildings? Effectively, the legislation around heat network zoning would open up commercial areas to heat networks. Rather than producing their own heat on site, any schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, emergency services sites or council buildings within a heat network zone would buy their energy from the available district heating scheme. Inner city blocks of flats will go from self-contained communal schemes and connect to district schemes. As the district heating schemes in cities like Bristol show, heat networks open up numerous benefits to businesses and building occupiers, from improved energy security and resilience to reduced energy consumption and operating costs. While a range of solutions will be required to


decarbonise heat in buildings and all should be left on the table, the future of city-wide heat networks certainly looks bright.


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Heat networks


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