Combined authorities across Great Britain could see up to £95 billion worth of investment by decarbonising the heating of homes and buildings through heat networks, according to the Association for Decentralised Energy’s (ADE) latest research, which explores the potential of heat networks and the value they could provide across nine combined authorities in Great Britain.
The regional heat network reports, prepared by ACE-Research, offer strategic insights for expanding sustainable heat infrastructure across nine areas in the UK. Each report provides detailed growth and financial models and a tailored analysis to support regional Combined Authorities in planning effective, scalable heat network expansion in pursuit of net-zero targets, including estimating capital investment, infrastructure needs and sectoral demand.
The research reports are projecting that East Midlands, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire Combined Authorities have a potential combined total of £50,7 billion worth of investment alone.
The reports are as follows:
East Midlands Heat Network Growth Curve & Supply Chain Modelling
This report assesses the East Midlands’ potential for heat network expansion, projecting a need for £18 billion in investment under high-growth scenarios to meet an anticipated increase in demand by 2050.
Greater Manchester Heat Network Growth Curve & Supply Chain Modelling
To support Greater Manchester’s 2038 net-zero target, ACE-Research’s report anticipates an investment of £18 billion to expand heat networks.
Liverpool City Region Heat Network Growth Curve & Supply Chain Modelling
In Liverpool, the report suggests up to £12 billion in investments to advance heat network infrastructure, allowing for significant capacity increases by 2050.
North East Heat Network Growth Curve & Supply Chain Modelling
The North East Combined Authority’s heat network potential could see growth by over 85 times, with investments totalling £11.5 billion by 2050.
North Yorkshire Heat Network Growth Curve & Supply Chain Modelling
In North Yorkshire, ACE-Research estimates a £1.7 billion investment could drive heat network growth by over 60 times to meet demand by 2050.
South Yorkshire Heat Network Growth Curve & Supply Chain Modelling
South Yorkshire’s heat network report explores scenarios to raise network capacity by 100 times, with an estimated £9.4 billion investment.
Tees Valley Heat Network Growth Curve & Supply Chain Modelling
The Tees Valley could attract £5 billion in investment, expanding its heat network capacity over 86 times by 2050.
West Midlands Heat Network Growth Curve & Supply Chain Modelling
For the West Midlands, ACE-Research predicts a £7 billion investment to enable network growth by over 19 times, focusing on connecting public and private buildings.
West Yorkshire Heat Network Growth Curve & Supply Chain Modelling
ACE-Research’s projections for West Yorkshire suggest a £14.7 billion investment could increase heat network capacity by 17 times, focusing on a balanced mix of public and non-domestic buildings.
(See below for links to download the individual reports)
Combined authorities with heavy industry in their vicinity could benefit most from this scale of roll out
Heat networks are a system of underground pipes that distribute heat from a central source to multiple buildings – this central source could be heat harvested from rivers, waste plants or even the transport such as metro systems. Supplying heat in this communal manner is much less emission intensive and much more efficient.
Combined authorities with heavy industry within their vicinity could benefit the most from this scale of roll out, particularly if they have ambitious net zero targets. One report shows that Tees Valley could see up to £1.52 billion investment to deliver 1.46TWh of heat to private non-domestic buildings. The ADE states that such ambitious delivery could be essential in the region’s ambitions to establish a net zero industrial cluster by 2040.
The ADE says that if the ambitious scale tested in these reports are met, heat networks could be a major catalyst in delivering the Government’s 2035 Industrial Strategy. The trade association emphasises that this extends beyond net zero targets. ADE Research suggests that unless combined authorities move at pace to decarbonise the heat in their buildings, jobs could be at risk and billions of pounds worth of investment could be delayed, or not seen by the communities that need it most.
Freddie Wilkinson, Senior Policy and Data Analyst at the ADE, who conducted the research, commented:
“The ambitious deployment of heat networks to meet our net zero targets would turbocharge investment across all regions of the UK. For every GWh of heat decarbonised by a network, £1m of investment can be brought in. Heat networks are a brilliant vehicle for deploying the low-carbon, strategic technologies the government wants to champion through its industrial strategy. There is amazing potential not just to meet our climate goals, but to significantly boost local growth and investment across the country.”
Download Liverpool City Region Heat Networks Report
Download Greater Manchester Heat Networks Report
Download East Midlands Heat Networks Report
Download West Yorkshire Heat Networks Report
Download North East Heat Networks Report
Download North Yorkshire Heat Networks Report
Download South Yorkshire Heat Networks Report
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