The first formal technical standard for heat networks has been unveiled, supporting the sector’s move to regulation. The Heat Network Technical Standard (TS1) replaces the Heat Networks: Code of Practice for the UK (CP1), a voluntary code drawn up in 2020 by CIBSE and the Association for Decentralised Energy.
Funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), the draft TS1 sets out minimum technical standards. A ‘large proportion’ of the content is based on CP1, but changes have been made, including developing the standard’s structure to align with the Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme (HNTAS), for which TS1 will serve as the ‘principal reference point’. This has involved updating the stages set out in CP1 to fit the HNTAS assessment regimes.
Other changes include ‘entirely new’ minimum requirements in key technical areas, such as operating pressures, resilience, water quality, insulation and condition of heat networks. The text in CP1 on individual technical requirements has been tightened and clarified.
All retained CP1 minimum requirements have been rewritten to ensure they are suitable for a regulatory technical standard, particularly that the language is in line with ISO guidelines and any ambiguities when conducting assessments are resolved.
New materials originally developed for HNTAS have also been added to TS1, while fresh requirements have been included where clear gaps exist and/or ‘significant’ shifts in thinking have taken place in the market, industry literature and standards since 2020.
Phil Jones, lead author of CP1 (2020) and DESNZ HNTAS team member, said: ‘The move from a code of practice to a “standard” is a key, underpinning reference point for the HNTAS Code documents that are central to implementing the assurance scheme.’
