First projects to receive funding from the Green Heat Network Fund located in Hull, Wigan and Peterborough.

Some £30M of funding has been granted to green energy projects in three cities, which will benefit homes and businesses to deliver low carbon heat and help consumers move away from costly fossil fuels as part of the government’s push to cut emissions.

The projects, which were earmarked just before Christmas, are the first to secure funding through the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF), a £288M government funding scheme launched in March 2022.

Heat networks offer carbon emissions savings by supplying heat to buildings from a central source, avoiding the need for households and workplaces to rely on individual, energy-intensive heating solutions – such as gas boilers. As such, heat networks provide a significant contribution to the UK’s carbon reduction commitment.

Peterborough and Hull will receive more than £27M from the total funding allocation, to support initiatives that deliver clean heating to households, offices, commercial and public buildings, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions at the same time.

The GHNF funding will pave the way for low carbon technologies – like heat pumps, solar and geothermal energy – to be delivered at scale and established as a central heating source. The scheme is expected to reduce emissions equivalent to taking 5.6 million cars off the road for a year.

Meanwhile, in Wigan more than £2.6M has been made available through one of the final awards from the £320M Heat Networks Investment Project, which was succeeded by the GHNF this year after running since 2018.

Energy Minister Lord Callanan said: “It’s vital that we invest in cutting edge technologies, like heat networks, that move us away from heating our homes and businesses with carbon-emitting fossil fuels.

“I’m delighted to see that, through the Green Heat Network Fund, ground-breaking projects will be developed at pace to the benefit of communities, moving us away from soaring energy bills and delivering cheaper, greener energy.”

Ken Hunnisett, Programme Director for Triple Point Heat Networks Investment Management, delivery partner for the GHNF and HNIP, said: “It will be such a pleasure to work with the teams in Hull and Peterborough to deliver these fantastic, real-world, clean energy infrastructure projects that will generate local jobs and provide heat to local communities, all during the life of the Green Heat Network Fund.

“Such has been the pace at which the new fund has launched that we are still announcing the late-stage successes of its predecessor, the Heat Network Investment Project. The new network at the heart of the redeveloped Galleries Shopping Centre in Wigan will be delivering low carbon heat to retail, leisure, and residential premises within the next three years.”

In a further boost to future investment in low carbon heat networks, councils will now be offered streamlined access to the UK Infrastructure Bank’s £4Bn local authority lending product as part of the GHNF application process.

John Flint, CEO of UK Infrastructure Bank, said: “With rising energy bills, the need for low cost, low carbon heating systems is clear. Heat networks provide an innovative and proven solution which can help tackle the net zero and local growth challenge. Helping local authorities unlock access to finance for these projects will be crucial.

“The Bank is well placed to play a significant role in supporting the development of heat networks and we are pleased to be taking the next step through our new partnership with BEIS in fulfilment of this ambition.”

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