Six towns and cities to pilot clean heating innovation

Government announces England’s first-ever heat network zones, supporting businesses and building owners to benefit from low-cost, low-carbon heating.

Businesses and building owners across England are set to benefit from low-cost, low-carbon heating as 6 towns and cities have been selected to develop the country’s first heat network zones. 

Developing zones for heat networks in urban areas is the cheapest and most efficient way of delivering the technology, which recycles excess heat – generated for example by data centres or from factories – to enable the heating of several buildings at once. 

The ground-breaking schemes in Leeds, Plymouth, Bristol, Stockport, Sheffield, and 2 in London will receive a share of £5.8 million of government funding to develop the zones, with construction expected to start from 2026. This will help to create tens of thousands of jobs including engineering, planning, manufacturing and construction roles.   

Heat network zones use data to identify the best spots and help to plan and build the technology at scale. They require suitable buildings, such as hotels and large offices, to connect when it is cost-effective for them to do so.  

The new schemes will provide heating using trailblazing sources. Excess heat from data centres – which would otherwise be wasted – will provide heating in the Old Oak and Park Royal Development, while the system planned in Leeds will take heat from a nearby glass factory to warm connected buildings. 

Developing heat networks across the country has the potential to create tens of thousands of jobs through delivering a low-carbon heating transformation. 

Types of buildings that could connect to a network include those that are already communally heated, and large non-domestic buildings over a certain size, such as hospitals, universities, hotels, supermarkets, and office blocks. 

The 6 selected towns and cities are part of the government’s plan to accelerate the delivery of heat networks across England in areas where zones are likely to be designated in the future. The learnings from these pilots will inform the work to reduce bills, enhance energy security, and achieve net zero by 2050.