Scotland Heat Map: public sector data sharing agreement

Aims and benefits of data sharing

Aims of data sharing

The Scotland Heat Map is a collaborative project between the Scottish Government, public sector organisations and other bodies in Scotland to inform and deliver Scottish Government policies on climate change, heat and energy efficiency. It is an essential resource for identifying opportunities for efficient heat supply projects and supporting their development. Developed with data provided by public and private sector organisations, it can help identify opportunities for new and expanding heat projects, including efficient supply projects like district and communal heat networks. As well as being a national resource for strategic modelling and planning, the Scotland Heat Map dataset is available to every Scottish local authority to create a local heat map for their area.

Benefits of data sharing

Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) use data from the Scotland Heat Map and are one of the tools that will support the delivery of the changes required to meet the Scottish Government’s climate change targets and to reach net zero by 2045.

The Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (Scotland) Order 2022 places a duty on local authorities to prepare, publish and update a Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy and Delivery Plan. Local authorities are required to publish LHEES Strategies and Delivery Plans by the end of 2023 and update them every five years. Additionally, section 47 of the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act places a duty on local authorities to review and consider whether one or more areas in its area are likely to be particularly suitable for constructing and operating a heat network.

The Scotland Heat Map will support local authorities with the production of their LHEES by enabling the determination of heat demand geographically, as well as identifying sources of heat to facilitate the optimisation of energy supplies and infrastructure investment. The Heat Map is a core dataset that supports the development of LHEES, in particular with provision of building level heat demand data for the analysis associated with assessing the potential for heat networks.