Heat Network Projects Quarterly Report: Q4 2023
The Scottish Government have published The Heat Network Projects Quarterly Report – December 2023 summarising projects supported by the Heat Network Support Unit (HNSU), Scotland’s Heat in Buildings Development Funding Invitation and Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF).
The Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) quarterly report provides an updated construction status for the 32 LCITP funded projects since the last report published in July 2023.
Providing support at the pre-capital and capital stages of projects has helped realise the potential of the projects included in these reports, all of which contribute to Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 targets for the combined supply of thermal energy by heat networks to reach 2.6 TWh of output by 2027 and 6 TWh of output by 2030.
The HNSU are delighted to be supporting 8 new heat network pre-capital projects since the last Quarterly Report including Crichton Estate, Dumfries. The HNSU also continue to support the pre-capital stages of development for previous grant funded projects such as Polmadie, Glasgow.
Crichton Estate
In September of 2023, up to £50,000 was awarded by the HNSU to the Crichton Trust to create a feasibility report for a proposed heat network in the Crichton Estate.
The project will build on work already undertaken by the Crichton Trust and consider multiple heat sources. These include the Dumfries Basin Aquifer, the River Nith and heat recovery from the nearby Torqueer wastewater treatment facility.
The proposed new heat network would serve the mixed-use buildings on Crichton Estate including 27 heritage buildings housing over 120 businesses, Dumfries and Galloway College, Scottish Rural Agricultural College, Brownhill Primary School, 3 NHS buildings and domestic properties.
Due in March 2024, the updated study will include heat demand analysis, techno-economic modelling, and a technical options appraisal.
The HNSU shall continue to support the Crichton Trust and local partners to identify the best technical and financial route to local heat decarbonisation.
Polmadie, Glasgow
In January of 2023, Glasgow City Council secured up to £50,000 grant funding from the HNSU to determine the potential for the Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC) Energy from Waste (EfW) facility to be used as a heat source for a district heat network. This involved undertaking a review and updating a feasibility study completed in 2014.
Glasgow’s Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) identifies GRREC EfW facility as a key strategic consideration for Glasgow based on the opportunity to offtake heat from the facility. The GRREC site is operated by Glasgow City Council’s long-term partner, Viridor.
The feasibility report completed in August 2023 highlighted that there is a significant opportunity to develop a 3rd generation heat network in Polmadie with GRREC EfW facility as the main source of heat. The proposed network would serve a mix of domestic and non-domestic properties in the south side of Glasgow.
The project team continue to work with the HNSU to develop further technoeconomic modelling to present a full range of assumptions with varying Internal Rate of Returns.
Information on other existing and newly supported projects can be found within the report.
For questions relating to the projects summarised in the report or fund enquiries, please direct these to HeatNetworkFund@gov.scot or HeatNetworkSupport@gov.scot.