Question reference: S6W-19785
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 4 July 2023
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Current status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 1 August 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £300 million provided for Scotland's Heat Network Fund, which opened in February 2022, has been allocated to projects.
Answer
Heat Networks are large scale infrastructure projects requiring multiple years of development before reaching capital readiness and beginning construction. Therefore, we have committed multi-year funding though Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) which makes £300 million available to support the development and roll out of heat networks across Scotland during this parliamentary term. The fund aims to stimulate investment and grow the low carbon heat sector, whilst reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
To date Scotland’s Heat Network Fund has allocated £6,727,389 to four heat network projects in Scotland. Of these, three are public sector heat networks, receiving a combined £6,339,315. The other is a housing association which received £388,000 in SHNF funding. In addition to this, we currently have several applications undergoing a formal assessment process and are engaging with many pre-capital stage projects through our Heat Network Support Unit.
In September 2022, we launched the Heat Network Support Unit (HNSU) which is already working to develop ambitious heat network projects that will help us progress towards our deployment targets. The HNSU provides advice and grant funding for pre-capital works such as developing feasibility studies and Outline Business Cases. This support is predominantly aimed at the public sector in order to increase the scale and pace of heat network project development across Scotland and build capacity across the sector to deliver successful projects. The Heat Network Support Unit has provided approximately £500,000 of support creating a pipeline of multiple projects that, if found to be viable, may progress towards capital funding and construction in the near future with a potential total capital value of approximately £150 million. Many of these projects may be supported via Scotland’s Heat Network Fund.
Scottish Government is also currently providing approximately £26 million of support to seven heat network projects through the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) which are due to commission by the end of 2024.
Support offered through our heat network funding programmes is reflected within our quarterly reports which provide industry, investors and other stakeholders with a view of the pipeline of heat networks projects progressing in Scotland.