Resource Library

The Heat Network Partnership has many resources available for technology, planning, finance, procurement and leadership.  Below is a list of resources, simply click on the resource name and download the PDF from the available list.

Finance

Useful Tools

Guidance

  • Scottish Futures Trust - District Heating - VAT Report (Final) A report summarising relevant VAT considerations and potential VAT efficient structures for a variety of Scottish public sector bodies that could participate in district heating schemes as suppliers and/or purchasers of heat and/or power. The report was prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on behalf of Scottish Futures Trust.

Support for new schemes

    • District Heating Loans Fund The Scottish Government’s district heating loan fund provides loans for both low carbon and renewable technologies to help organisations implement district heating projects to benefit local communities.
    • Heat Networks Demonstration Small Business Research Initative (SBRI) The UK government's recently announced competition aimed at helping to address cost and performance efficiency challenges related to heat networks. The competition will be managed in two phases. The first phase will support feasibility studies with an expected value between £20,000 and £50,000 and the second phase will support trials and demonstration activities with an expected value between £100,000 and £1m per project. A total of £6m is to be made available through the competition which is being run through the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI). Qualifying technologies might include: water source heat pumps, or novel ground source heat pumps; technologies for recovering waste heat from industry; Novel large-scale thermal storage; control systems that deliver greater system cost-effectiveness; or innovative technologies that can be applied to cooling networks. All applications must be received by DECC both electronically and in hard copy by 12 noon on the 28th November 2014.
    • Energy Entrepreneurs Fund Scheme DECC launched the 1st phase of the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund scheme on 23 August 2012. This is a competitive funding scheme to support the development and demonstration of innovative, new technologies, products and processes in the areas of: Energy efficiency and building technologies Power generation and storage
    • Enhanced Capital Allowance Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECAs) enable a business to claim 100% first-year capital allowances on their spending on qualifying plant and machinery.
    • Feed-in tariffsvA mechanism to support small scale generators of renewable electricity, up to 5 MWe to complement the Renewables Obligation for large scale generators. Applies to AD but not currently solid biomass.

 

  • Renewable Heat Incentive Government environmental programme that provides financial incentives to increase the uptake of renewable heat.

 

Schemes to provide advice, consultancy and other support

  • Energy Saving Trust Information and advice though local Advice Centres
  • Community Energy Scotland Community Energy Scotland supports communities throughout Scotland to develop sustainable energy projects by providing practical help on green energy development and energy conservation.
  • Resource Efficient Scotland This programme is delivered by Zero Waste Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government and is designed to help the public and private sectors reduce costs by implementing resource efficiencies in energy, water, raw materials and waste management.
  • Local Energy Scotland A free online toolkit is available to guide you through the process of developing a renewable energy project, including modules focused on heat technologies and RHI, and a detailed finance model tool. Local Energy Scotland also provides an advice service through a regional development officer network.
  • Home Energy Scotland Offers clear and impartial advice on making homes cheaper to heat.

Applied Research, Development and Technology Transfer

  • Horizon 2020 The largest EU Research and Innovation programme with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020).

Schemes to support large scale heat and electricity generation

  • EU Emissions Trading System The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) puts a cap on the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by business and creates a market and price for carbon allowances.
  • Climate Change Levy CCL is a tax on the use of energy in industry, commerce and the public sector. Electricity generated from new renewable energy and good quality CHP schemes are exempt.
  • Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme The Carbon Reduction is a mandatory carbon emissions trading scheme for all organizations using more than 6,000 MWh per year of electricity
  • Renewables Obligation This Ofgem administered scheme is the main support mechanism for renewable electricity projects in the UK.
Leadership

Scottish Policy and Legislation

UK Policy and Legislation

Reports

Useful Links

International

Planning

Guides

  • Community Energy Planning: Development & Delivery More and more private and public developers, local authorities, landowners, building operators and communities are becoming 'project developers'. This guide aims to support them in this role (2010).
  • Building A Roadmap For Heat Athough this report was commissioned by the Combined Heat and Power Association, it is an independent piece of academic work by a team of 7 scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Surrey. The report considers a range of scenarios relating to energy supply in 2050 including: an all-electric future; the role of high and low-grade heat in the energy mix; and an 'integrated' scenario, which delivers a more diverse delivery of heat (2010).
  • SEPA Interim Position On Land Use Planning This document is an interim statement of SEPA's role and policy position on energy and climate change relative to land use planning (October 2009).
  • Community Energy Urban Planning for A Low Carbon Future This guide provides a practical vision of how our towns and cities can plan for the development of community-scale energy. Local Government has a key role to play in coordinating action, making full use of planning powers and acting as pioneers and champions for the development of decentralised energy networks (2008).

Advice and guidance

Scotland Heat Map

Development of heat networks in London

  • Powering Ahead: Delivering Low Carbon Energy for London The London Development Authority is working alongside boroughs to develop the tools and expertise needed to identify and de-risk schemes. It has also has created a dedicated Decentralised Energy team that has been instrumental in identifying areas where decentralised energy makes the most commercial sense (October 2009).
  • DH Manual for London The DH Manual for London is a practical, accessible and consistent guidance document. Its use is recommended for all projects supported by the Mayor's Decentralised Energy for London programme and is commended to the DE industry as a whole (February 2013).

Scotland Heat Map: Links

Scottish planning policy

Procurement

Procurement

Guidance on heat supply agreements (HSAs) for district heating schemes: HSA guidance final (Feb 18) The guidance is aimed primarily at public bodies who are either developing their own heat networks, or acting as customers to networks operated by other organisations (whether public or private). Much of the information is not specific to public bodies and will be of wider interest and relevance to developers, landlords (including residential social landlords), generators of surplus industrial heat, energy services companies and consultants.

Guidance on Powers of Scottish public bodies to generate/procure heat and electricity supplies:

Guidance on Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) for the public sector: SFT ESCO report ( v1 - 16 March 2015) Guidance on heat metering and billing for local authorities: Fife Council has created a heat metering and billing framework for use by local authorities and housing associations that this designed to help grow the heat network market and ensure customer protection. The agreement delivers a set of standard approaches, relieving pressure from social landlords and local authorities to meet the regulations to individually bill and meter each tenant. The scope of the framework is aligned to guidance from the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy and the Heat Trust.

Technology

Technical Guidance

  • Heat recovery opportunities in Scotland A Scottish Enterprise report highlighting the main economic opportunities for Scotland from heat recovery. The report focuses on waste heat recovery and renewable heat from geothermal and ambient heat sources (2014).
  • District Heating and Cooling Connection Handbook International Energy Agency: programme of Research, Development and Demonstration on District Heating and Cooling (Bard Skagestad and Peter Mildens).
  • District heating substation design District heating substations design and installation - Svensk Fjärrvärme.
  • City of London decentralised energy and pipe subways study Decentralised Energy & Pipe Subways Study Baseline Report City Of London, URS December 2009.
  • Low or zero carbon energy sources The office of Deputy Prime Minister - Report on the Commercial Aspects of Local Authority Renewable Energy Production Executive Summary.
  • Biomass heating a guide to feasibility studies This guide provides a brief introduction to biomass boilers followed by a step–by-step guide to carrying out the technical aspects of a biomass feasibility study. The guide is concerned with the use of logs, wood chips and wood pellets only, these being the principal fuels used in biomass heating systems in the UK.
  • Gas Pyro planning factsheet This leaflet is based upon information contained within a research report undertaken for the Office of the Depute Prime Minister ( see information sources at foot of leaflet) and is intended to provide general guidance only. Minor amendments have been made to reflect the Scottish context. In Scotland SEPA’s Thermal Treatment Guidelines apply and require to be referred to.
  • Cluff Geothermal Report This report examines the potential for using deep geothermal energy as a heat source for district heating systems.

Technologies

Useful Links

Useful Links

Useful Links

The following references and links will be useful to participating delegates: Policy

District Heating Action Plan, Scottish Government, June 2013 Update on the Renewable Heat Action Plan, Scottish Government, 2014 Energy Efficiency Policy, Scottish Government Electricity Generation Policy Statement, Scottish Government, June 2013 The Future of Heating: Meeting the Challenge, UK Government, March 2013 Delivering UK Energy Investment: Networks 2014, UK Government, 2014

  Scottish Planning Policy, Scottish Government, June 2014. Waste Zero Waste Plan, Scottish Government. Heat Map

Energy Masterplanning

Business Case

Statistics and Evaluations

Standards and Consumer Protection

Legislation

Programmes

General