Advertisement Feature CHP & DISTRICT HEATING
The East Lothian heat highway map
clean, renewable, and abundant. In fact, Danfoss estimates the EU wastes enough heat each year to meet 90% of the heating and hot water demands in homes and service sector buildings. A recent publication by the European Parliament equates the need to utilise waste heat with renewables (EED Article 26). With the right planning and infrastructure, heat utilities can capture waste heat from industrial sources and transport it over long distances, delivering it to homes and businesses as hot water. Another benefit of heat highways is
that they’re not a new concept; they’re a green evolution of our existing gas infrastructure. In the 1960s, the government started building the National Transmission System (NTS), a network of gas pipelines that now supply commercial and domestic users throughout the UK. But while the NTS has served us well, it has also locked a large proportion of our energy system into a single fossil fuel. Building heat highways replicates the success of our past while future- proofing our heating and energy supply. As part of a net zero vision, heat highways can also form the foundation of green heat grids that utilise excess heat and surplus electricity from renewable sources. For example, nearly 75% of SSEN’s grid supply points in the North of
EIBI | MARCH 2024
Scotland are constrained and no further connections are available – yet we keep building more wind turbines. But what if instead of curtailing wind farms down due to grid constraints, we used this surplus electricity to produce cheap heat? Building heat highways would allow us to maximise our available resources instead of paying for them to go to waste.
Replicating Denmark’s success To see the benefits of a regional heat utility in action, the East Lothian Council recently visited Denmark’s Triangle Region Transmission Company, known as TVIS. There, a 123km heat highway supplies low- cost waste heat to nine independent district heating companies, serving over 60,000 customers across seven municipalities. TVIS is owned by four municipalities. To enhance sustainability, TVIS utilises various industrial waste heat sources, including hydrogen and power production, waste incineration, and water treatment. The Triangle Region Heat
Transmission Company is responsible for sourcing, storing, and transmitting heat across the Triangle region, as well as supplying heat to local heat distribution companies. Large CHP, EfW plants and hydrogen plants (over 25 MW) supply waste heat to TVIS.
To maximise economies of scale,
Selling waste heat is also a boon for the local economy
Inspired by TVIS, the East Lothian Council wants to replicate its success. It aims to build a 30km heat highway under a new cycling path along the A199 between Tranent and Dunbar. The transmission line will branch off to local district heat networks, supplying clean, low-cost heating to the six largest towns in the district. Like TVIS, East Lothian plans to utilise waste heat sources across the region, such as waste incineration, wastewater treatment plants and even abandoned coal mines.
As heat highways are source agnostic, the council can connect new waste heat sources as they become available – such as data centres, factories, supermarkets, and distilleries – creating flexible, future-proof infrastructure. Selling waste heat is also a boon for the local economy: connected businesses gain a sustainable revenue stream, and the region becomes more attractive to commercial investment.
councils can expand heat highways across their region. For example, East Lothian could be supplying heat to Edinburgh, making the council a green heat exporter. This inter-city heat highway would accelerate the capital’s decarbonisation efforts, and the outside-in approach solves the problem of sourcing waste heat within the city, where heat demand generally outstrips supply.
Creating a sustainable heating future East Lothian is indicative of many councils across the UK: it has the vision and motivation to create a greener future but needs the right government support. Realising this vision requires us to evolve beyond local heat zones to regional heat utilities that are proven to future-proof heating costs and cut emissions. We are currently planning heat
network zones at neighbourhood levels, but we will be far more successful thinking on a regional or even national scale. To do this, we need united support at all levels, from local councils all the way up to national government. By expanding our heat network strategy to build regional heat utilities that can efficiently use renewable waste heat, we can accelerate our transition to a circular economy. ■
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