Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has plans for the development of heat networks in areas located away from existing (a) industrial or (b) natural heat sources.

The Committee for Climate Change has recommended the government grows the heat network sector from providing 3% of national heat demand to 20% by 2050. We are implementing heat network zoning and funding low carbon heat networks to get to this scale.

Heat networks can use a variety of heat sources such as heat from industry and natural heat sources such as rivers. Where industrial or natural heat sources are not available heat networks can use large air-source heat pumps. When deployed in the right locations will be lower cost for consumers than other low-carbon individual heating systems.