Heat networks have the potential to supply 60% of the UK’s heat demand, according to the lead author of new industry technical standards.
The UK government aims to supply 20% of heat from heat networks by 2050, up from 2-3% currently. However, Gareth Jones, managing director at FairHeat, told the FairHeat Annual conference last month that the industry could supply 60% of heat over the same timeframe.
‘For medium- to high-density housing, heat networks with large-scale heat pumps will be the best route to supply heat,’ said Jones, who added that heat networks offer the benefit of capturing waste heat, and can be deployed with smart thermal stores to help balance the Grid.
In the past 10 years, heat networks have improved vastly, Jones continued. In 2015, a study of 30 heat networks by FairHeat revealed losses of 500W per dwelling. Now, with structured quality control processes in place, losses of less than 70W are possible – the equivalent of the losses in one hot-water cylinder.
Jones is the lead technical author of the new Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme and Heat Network Technical Standard, which are being developed to support a new regulatory regime for heat networks, due out next year.
At the conference Dave Newton, policy manager at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), said the ‘sky was the limit’ for heat networks ‘as long as we get the regulatory framework right’.
Arran Mornin, head of heat network zoning policy at DESNZ, added that the aim is to build on policy that has been enacted in mature heat-network markets such as Denmark. ‘Large district networks built in the right location can provide significant cost savings compared with individual heating solutions,’ he said.
