Partner appointed for £320M Heat Network Investment

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has appointed Triple Point to the role of Delivery Partner for its Heat Network Investment Project (HNIP).

Triple Point will manage a commitment by BEIS of £320M in the form of loans and grants, to leverage in an additional £1Bn of additional private and institutional investment. The aim is to accelerate the design and construction of Heat Networks across the UK and help the Government deliver the cost-effective carbon savings required to meet the UK’s future carbon reduction commitments.

Heat networks deliver cost effective, low carbon heat, in the form of hot water or steam, from the point of generation, the central heat source, often referred to as the energy centre, to the end user through a network of insulated pipes. There are many possible technologies that can provide the input to a heat network including power stations, energy from waste (EfW) facilities, industrial processes, biomass and biogas fuelled boilers and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants, gas-fired CHP units, fuel cells, heat pumps, geothermal sources, electric boilers and solar thermal arrays.

Also known as district heating, there are already over 14,000 Heat Networks in the UK that supply heat to hospitals, universities, tower blocks and, increasingly, to new urban mixed developments of housing, commercial and public buildings.

As delivery partner, Triple Point will be responsible for identifying viable projects from the current c£1Bn pipeline of potential public sector projects as well as other suitable schemes from the public and private sectors, such as residential and commercial property developments and industrial parks.

Providing reliable, affordable energy is central to the UK’s economic success. The UK utilises more energy for heating and hot water in its buildings than for any other purpose. Heat accounts for around a third of UK carbon emissions and almost half of its energy usage.

In order to meet climate change targets, the UK will require the complete or near-complete decarbonisation of heat and is considering ways to generate heat more efficiently. Heat Networks are a well-understood mature technology capable of delivering cheaper heat both now and in a low-carbon future, can be decarbonised with zero impact on the end-consumer, and benefit the wider energy system. The UK Government continues to show strong support for the development of Heat Networks in the UK, and they form a key part of the Clean Growth Strategy and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy through the 2020s.

Ken Hunnisett, Project Director at Triple Point Heat Networks Investment Management, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy as the delivery partner for this hugely important heat networks project and look forward to working with our partners to unlock the investment needed to realise the massive potential in Heat Networks and roll out the infrastructure in residential, business and industrial developments across the UK. This will help to deliver the cost-effective carbon savings the UK Government needs to meet the country’s carbon reduction commitments.”

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