Challenge & Vision
The UK Government set a new target to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero this year, making the UK the first major economy to end its contribution to global warming by 2050.
Heat networks are one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing carbon emissions from heating which is essential if we are to meet this target in time.
They deliver a wide range of benefits to the environment, consumers and the wider economy by supplying both heating and cooling to buildings from the same centralised source. They have scope to service the heat requirement of just two buildings or an entire city through a network of insulated pipes carrying hot water, avoiding the need for individual boilers or electric heating in every building. However, only 2% of UK buildings are currently heated this way in the UK. The Government is therefore committed to providing much needed scale to the market.
Approach
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched the Heat Network Investment Project (HNIP) to deliver £320m of government support to individual heat network projects across England and Wales and appointed Triple Point Investment Management as delivery partner. We were selected to lead on stakeholder engagement for the project over a period of three years. The project seeks to leverage around £1bn of private and other capital and support jobs across towns and cities in the UK.
As engagement lead, we continue to deliver events across regions in England and Wales to engage with the supply chain and potential investors. We have also produced promotional and educational material to encourage potential applicants and to upskill and build capacity within organisations considering a heat network project. We also lead on social media engagement to disseminate relevant information into the marketplace.
Outcome & Positive Change
We are proud to be part of the delivery partner team for the project, driving carbon savings and consumer benefits through the incentivisation of high-quality heat network projects.
