Heat Networks Delivery Plan: review report 2024

The Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 requires that the Heat Networks Delivery Plan (HNDP) is reviewed every two years, and that Scottish Ministers prepare a report of our progress towards meeting the provisions of the Act and other supporting policies. This report fulfils the requirement to review and report on the HNDP.


Annex A: Glossary of Terms and Acronyms

Anchor Building - Buildings with a large, reliable and long-term demand for heat, often with a stable and constant use profile, can act as anchors for a developing district heating network. These anchor loads allow district heat networks to operate efficiently and provide the potential to extend the network to smaller existing heat users in the area.

BAR – building assessment report

CoSLA – Convention of Scottish Local Authorities

ESCO – energy service company

GB – Great Britian

GW Gigawatt – A unit of power equal to 1,000,000,000 watts

GWh Gigawatt hour – A unit of energy equal to 1,000,000,000 watt hours

Heat network – Heat networks, as defined under the 2021 Act, include both district and communal heating:

  • a district heat network is defined as a network by which thermal energy is distributed from one or more sources of production to more than one building.
  • a communal heating system is a system by which thermal energy is distributed from one or more sources of production to one building comprising more than one building unit.

Heat networks can provide heating, cooling, or steam for industrial processes.

HNDP – Heat Networks Delivery Plan

HNSU – Heat Network Support Unit

The Heat Trust – is a stakeholder-led customer protection scheme which sets a common standard in the quality and level of customer service expected from heat suppliers. It provides an independent process for settling complaints between customers and their heat supplier through the Energy Ombudsman. The standards of service have been designed to be comparable to those required by electricity and gas suppliers.

HNZ – heat network zone – area designated by a local authority that is particularly suitable for heat network development and operation

LCITP – Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme

LHEES – Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies – These are long term plans for an entire local authority area to decarbonise heat and improve energy efficiency. A Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI) was passed by Scottish Parliament requiring local authorities to have strategies and delivery plans in place by the end of 2023 and then update them every five years.

MWh – Megawatt-hour – A unit of energy equal to 1,000,000 watt hours

Ofgem – The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets – a non-ministerial department of the UK Government, which acts as the independent regulator of the UK energy market.

SHNF – Scotland Heat Network Fund

SHNZHF – Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund

SME – Small and medium-sized enterprises

TW Terawatt – A unit of power equal to 1,000,000,000,000 watts

TWh Terawatt hour – A unit of energy equal to 1,000,000,000,000 watt hours

UK – The United Kingdom

Watt hour (Wh) – A unit of energy (or work) equal to the energy of one watt operating for one hour, equivalent to 3600 joules

Watt (W) – An international standard unit of power, defined as one joule per second. Being a small unit, it is usually used as a multiple such as kilowatts, megawatts, gigawatts or terawatts

Contact

Email: heatnetworks@gov.scot

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