Funds boost for heat networks scheme

FUNDING to assist the implementation of district or communal heating networks has been announced by the Scottish Government.

The £300m ‘Heat Network Fund’ is aimed at projects that are ‘capital ready’ but facing a funding gap.

The fund has been launched in the belief that district or communal heating systems are vital in reducing carbon emissions – tackling the climate challenge.

Says the Scottish Government – here: “Currently, heat networks supply only 1.5 per cent of heat in Scotland but are a key strategic technology for reducing emissions from heating our homes and buildings.”

It adds: “A district heat network is defined as a network by which thermal energy is distributed from one or more sources of production to more than one building. [Meanwhile] a communal heating system is a system by which thermal energy is distributed from one or more sources of production to one building comprising more than one building unit.”

The Scottish Government adds – here: “The new fund takes over from the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme and is part of the overall £1.8 billion committed over the course of this [Scottish] Parliament to decarbonise how we heat our buildings.”