Heat Networks Roundtable

Exploring the opportunities and the potential issues which heat networks offer/present for the alleviation of fuel poverty

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Local Authorities

Representing the heat network issue from a local authority viewpoint, Barbara Whiting of Dundee City Council talked about the Council’s work emerging from their LHEES (Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies Scotland). Dundee City has 87% of the population on gas-grid and 31% of households living in fuel poverty.

Barbara pointed out that having the right skill set to develop and take forward the LHEES was a challenge.  The estimate to decarbonise the City’s housing stock is about £539 million, but there are some strong opportunities in Dundee for the development of heat networks.

The Council is currently going through a 2-stage strategic network development process – a technical assessment and a models’ option appraisal. Engagement is key and there is a long-standing Council commitment to heat networks – as well as strong existing partnerships such as those with Sustainable Dundee and Dundee Climate Leadership Group.

The following points and questions were discussed:

  • How LHEES learning can be shared nationally – there is a LHEES Forum
  • Warmbanks, heated by heat networks, could be a potential fuel poverty measure offering a wider community benefit and a public service provision model. The longevity of heat network development means looking beyond the 2040 fuel poverty targets.

Andrew Brockett of East Ayrshire Council provided thoughts on their experience to date. Their context is very different from Dundee City’s – with about 45% of the population living in Kilmarnock, and around 30% of the population in accessible small towns (urban rural 8-fold classification). 31% of their population is in the most deprived quintile category of the Scottish Multiple Deprivation Index. Fuel poverty rates are very high – there are lots of households off-gas grid and wind driven rain is a feature of their local climatic conditions.

Changeworks did an initial piece of work identifying 6 potential heat network delivery areas. Their challenges in the development of heat networks include that: opportunities are equivalent to 3% of all domestic demand, risk appetite with risks around capacity/expertise/ commercial/legal and whether there is the scale to attract investment.

In addition, some fuel poor homes may not have wet central heating. For retrofit, their intention is to focus on Council housing stock first.

They’re already working with Registered Social Landlords & the NHS and leveraging existing funding mechanisms for retrofit programmes.  They also use Citrus Energy to direct residents towards impartial advice and recommendations.

The following points and questions were discussed:

  • there’s an assumption of technological readiness at a household level for heat networks which may not be there. Is there a discrepancy here between model data versus actual data?
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