The opportunity for Scots to connect to new heat networks will be part of an exciting gathering taking place tonight, brought to you by The Herald and European energy firm Vattenfall. 

The move to decarbonise Scotland’s built environment has taken a step forward this year as local authorities have published their first ever Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES), setting out their priorities for reducing emissions.

These statutory reports, which will have to be updated every five years, provide a detailed look at housing stock, council premises and other buildings, recording their current level of heat efficiency and assessing their potential for improvement.

This information is vital if Scotland is going to reach its target of net zero emissions by 2045 and to put an end to fuel poverty, as far as possible, by 2040.

One of the most effective ways to achieve large-scale decarbonisation is with the use of heat networks, known as district heating. The idea behind these is that heat produced by waste plants, sewage facilities and data centres can be used to provide low carbon heating for surrounding communities.

Heat networks offer economies of scale and are considered to be one of the best solutions for urban environments, but their benefits are not confined to cities. Even the Scottish Borders, one of the country’s most rural regions, has identified core zones where they could be created.

Heat networks are not new technology. In Sweden they supply heat to around 50% of the country’s homes, offices and businesses and they are well-accepted by users. In this country, however, the situation is very different with heat networks supplying, at best, just 3% of demand.

(Image: Vattenfall) In Scotland, a major heat network is under construction in Midlothian, just south of Edinburgh, where it will use heat produced by a waste facility at Millerhill to supply heating to homes, schools, retail and business premises to the new town of Shawfair. The project is being delivered by Midlothian Energy Ltd, a joint venture between Midlothian Council and Vattenfall, one of Europe’s largest producers and distributors of heat. The pipes that will supply hot water to the community have already been laid.

However, the 20 Megawatts of energy produced by the waste facility at Millerhill have the capacity to deliver carbon-free heating on a much wider scale, including to the Edinburgh Bioquarter, which sits just a short distance from Shawfair.

If this was to happen, then Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, departments of The University of Edinburgh and the many biomedical research facilities that are located at the Bioquarter, could be served by the Midlothian Energy heat network.

The opportunity to connect to heat networks will be part of a discussion on Tuesday 24 September that will bring together representatives from Scottish Government, education providers, the NHS and the private sector. One of the key requirements for heat networks is for anchor loads to connect, many of which are public sector buildings. Public sector institutions are acting in their individual interests. The economy of scale of working together requires these organisations to take collective action.

Up for discussion will be the challenges that organisations face in connecting to heat networks alongside the hurdles that are holding back rapid implementation of all the potential steps forward that have emerged from the newly published LHEES documents, including financial and regulatory constraints and technical limitations.

Another central theme of the roundtable discussion will be the urgency of addressing climate change and delegates will examine various methodologies and frameworks that could help to produce rapid gains.

Policy support and funding mechanisms will also come under discussion, as well as how public sector institutions could work together in order to achieve the economies of scale that will enable projects, such as the one in Midlothian, to be scaled up in order to achieve a wider impact.

There will also be an opportunity for participants to share knowledge of previous successes, and failures, in order to create shared insights that will assist in ensuring that the LHEES implementation is both effective and sustainable.

vattenfall.co.uk