‘Heat network zoning is key – successful delivery is all about network connections’

The event, hosted by the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) in conjunction with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (NE LEP), the Royal Danish Embassy and with the support of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Pinnacle Power, saw the sector come together to explore how to make heat network zoning a success.Speaking to the full room of industry experts, Toby emphasised the critical role that heat networks, and zoning in particular, can play. He said:In Europe, they focus on connect, connect, connect. We need more emphasis on that approach, and now is the time. We are in a cost-of-living crisis, a carbon emergency, a growth emergency, an air quality emergency. Heat networks and zoning in particular can help deliver provide a solution to all of these issues, and there’s a big prize in doing so – up to £80 billion of new investment.That’s double the amount invested in offshore wind in last decade. Heat networks are a vast infrastructure class, we can’t look at the sector like a series of little projects spread across a few cities. We need lots of connections and zoning can deliver that. Let’s stop focusing on little, disparate networks and start focusing on rolling out big, city-scale infrastructure.The North East has a strong track record of developing and delivering heat networks, including the pioneering Gateshead District Energy Scheme and some of the UK’s first mine water heat networks. An ambitious pipeline of a further £500 million in heat networks projects have also been identified for the region.Throughout the day, varied speakers from BEIS, local councils, the ADE, Policy Exchange and many more took to the stage – among these speakers was Helen Golightly, the CEO of NE LEP, who intimately understands the opportunities and challenges faced in the North East.She noted:Energy is one of the region’s key pillars, through which it aims to drive growth and industry. We have a real focus on energy projects and meeting the net zero agenda, and we are working with local authorities to support larger decarbonisation projects across the region.There is a really significant amount of ongoing work in the North East and we want to showcase what’s happening. Let’s work together and make it a place where we can really accelerate the deployment of heat networks to increase growth and reduce bills for consumers.E.ON UK CEO Mike Lewis closed the agenda with a keynote speech to wrap-up the conversation. He emphasised the ‘huge opportunity’ heat networks offer, not only in terms of decarbonisation on the road to 2050, but also in guaranteeing future security of supply.Mike added:Massive changes in electricity generation are required. The value of heat networks is not currently understood as they are currently not investable at scale, even though they need to play a key role. Enormous amounts of capital are required – heat network zoning is a necessary step to get there, but is not sufficient alone. Other changes are needed.Currently, fewer than 3% of households are connected to a heat network, we need to get this figure to around 20%. Most importantly, we need to demonstrate the benefit for customers and show we can innovate and scale. If we want to retain political support, we have to get this right. It’s all to play for, we have a great opportunity - now it’s there for the taking.