Heat networks target 2035 consultation: business and regulatory impact assessment - partial

3. Consultation

Within Government

The Energy and Climate Change Directorate (DECC), located in Director General (DG) Net Zero, had direct contact and discussion with the following directorates during the development phase:

• Directorate for Chief Economist (OCEA), located in DG Economy;
• Scottish Government Legal Directorate (SGLD), located in DG Corporate.

Public Consultation

In the consultation for the Draft Heat Networks Delivery Plan (HNDP), we asked for views on what should be considered in setting the future heat network supply targets. Respondents indicated that meeting the existing targets should be the focus or our work, while others believed that more time should be taken to decide a sensible 2035 target.^[8]

Delaying the setting of a target would not meet the legal requirement of Scottish Ministers under the 2021 Act.

As part of the consultation for the 2035 Heat Network Target, a total of 28 responses were received. Of these, 23 were from groups or organisations and 5 were from individuals.

Overall, most respondents indicated that they supported the Scottish Government setting a 2035 target for the combined supply of thermal energy supplied from heat networks.

There was general support for an “at least 7 TWh” national target for Scotland. (This 7 TWh figure is equivalent to 9% of current non-electrical heat consumption.) Arguments supporting the level of the proposed target included it being a good balance between providing the ambition to be a strong facilitator whist remaining attainable or credible;

However, several respondents also felt the target was not ambitious enough and others felt the target was too ambitious. Some suggested the target should be based on a percentage of heat consumption metric rather than a TWh metric.