About the Heat Network Exchange
The Heat Network Exchange helps heat network companies connect with potential suppliers and partners.
It aims to help and bring together the organisations that design, build, operate, and maintain heat networks in one easy to find place.
The importance of heat networks
Heat networks play an important role in decarbonising heat to meet Net Zero by 2050. Meeting this legal commitment will require virtually all heat in buildings to be decarbonised, and heat in industry to be reduced to near zero carbon emissions.
Presently, heat is responsible for a third of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. Heat networks are a crucial aspect of the path towards decarbonising heat. In the right circumstances, they can reduce bills for consumers, support local regeneration and can be a cost-effective way of reducing carbon emissions from heating.
According to the latest statistics, there are nearly 12,000 registered heat networks in the UK, providing heating and hot water to approximately 480,000 consumers. Heat networks can deliver heating, hot water, and/or cooling from a central source or sources to a wide range of buildings including domestic dwellings, public buildings, businesses, factories, sport facilities, hospitals, and universities.
They are uniquely able to unlock otherwise inaccessible large-scale renewable and recovered heat sources such as waste heat from industry and heat from rivers and mines. Heat networks currently provide about 3% of UK heat demand and the Committee on Climate Change estimated in 2015 that with government support, they could provide 18% of heat demand by 2050 in a least-cost pathway to meeting carbon targets. This emphasises the importance and potential of heat networks to meet carbon targets and reach net-zero.
More information about heat networks is published on gov.uk. Heat network information specific to Scotland is also available.