Four projects will each receive a share of over £25 million in a new award from the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF), while the GHNF will be extended to Wales from Round 12 applications.
Vattenfall, as part of Bristol City Leap, has been awarded £13.5 million to construct the Temple Quarter heat network project. The project will bring together the existing Temple, Old Market and Redcliffe heat networks into one connected system using the existing water-source heat pump at Castle Park and prepare for a future connection to the Bath Road Energy Centre once developed.
The King’s Cross Group has secured £8.6 million in construction funding for the next phase of the King’s Cross Heating & Cooling Network. The funding will help decarbonise the established heat network, which serves more than 1,750 homes and 44 buildings. The project will support the transition of the network through a combination of ground and air source heat pumps, electric boilers and heat recovery from the existing cooling system.
Vital Energi has been awarded £2.2 million for a heat network that will provide low-carbon heating to 1,700 proposed homes in Atherstone, North Warwickshire. The project will harness waste heat from the Baddesley Energy from Waste facility nearby.
Construction of the network is set to begin in Spring 2027, with ‘heat on’ expected later in 2028. The network is also planned to connect to Aldi’s national headquarters in phase 1 of the network’s phased construction process and future connections are currently being explored to ensure the network is embedded into the wider Atherstone community.
Rochdale Borough Council has been awarded £1 million commercialisation funding for the Rochdale Town Centre district heat network. The project will connect 28GWh of low carbon heat to public, private and residential buildings across Rochdale Town Centre.
The heat network will harness heat from the local sewer, with construction planned to start in 2029. The network will initially be backed up by gas boilers, before eventually moving to a fully electric system.
The Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) is a multi-year, capital grant fund that opened to applicants in March 2022, with funding allocated up to 2029/30. It will provide support to organisations in the public, private, and third sectors in England and Wales.
Martin McCluskey, Minister for Energy Consumers, said: “The conflict in the Middle East has shown once again why we must get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and onto clean, homegrown power we control. Heat networks will play a crucial role in that shift, lowering bills for whole communities while strengthening our energy security.
“That’s why we’re upgrading old and inefficient systems and investing in modern, low-cost networks fit for the future.”