Heat network projects: quarterly report - September 2024

Introduction

This document produced by the Scottish Government’s Energy and Climate Change Directorate summarises the projects supported primarily by Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) and the Heat Network Support Unit (HNSU).

Launched in February 2022, Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) makes capital funding available to enable the rollout of new zero emission heat networks and communal heating systems, as well as the expansion and decarbonisation of existing heat networks across Scotland.

The Heat Network Support Unit (HNSU) supports the growth of heat networks by providing funding and advice for the pre-capital development of large-scale heat networks and building capacity across the public sector to deliver successful projects. The HNSU is sponsored and managed by the Scottish Government (SG), and support is delivered in partnership with the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) and Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS). The HNSU recently enhanced its offering through the Strategic Heat Network Support which is currently supporting seven local authorities to develop a strategic approach to deploying large-scale district heating in their respective areas.

This report also refers to the now closed Heat in Buildings Development Funding Invitation. This made £1 million of resource funding available to stimulate and accelerate the development of a pipeline of zero emission heat projects for buildings across Scotland. This funding invitation was the forerunner to the HNSU.

The Scottish Government has also provided substantial capital support to heat networks currently under construction through the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP). The LCITP is now closed to new applications, but we continue to report on the progress of funded projects. This document refers to LCITP funded heat network projects, a full list of all LCITP funded projects can be found here: Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The Scottish Government Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund (SHNZHF) supports social housing landlords across Scotland to install zero direct emission heating systems and energy efficiency measures for social housing projects that effectively contribute towards our ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2045. This document refers to SHNZHF funded heat network projects only.

The document includes a series of one-page summaries for each of the capital and pre-capital heat network projects supported by the Scottish Government through the SHNF, HNSU, LCITP and SHNZHF.

Further details on our programmes can be found here:

• Scotland’s Heat Network Fund: Heat Network Fund: application guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• Heat Network Support Unit: Heat Network Support Unit: support guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

For questions relating to the projects summarised in this document or fund enquiries, please direct these to HeatNetworkFund@gov.scot, HeatNetworkSupport@gov.scot or netzerosocialhousing@gov.scot.