Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 2 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support and guidance it is providing to local authorities, in light of the potential for council and community-owned heat networks to provide accountable and affordable low carbon heat for homes and buildings.
Our Heat Network Support Unit (HNSU) offers advice and grant funding for the pre-capital stages development including for feasibility studies, Outline Business Cases and strategic heat network support for local authorities to build on their Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES). To date, the HNSU has formally supported 55 pre-capital projects in 18 local authority areas, with the Scottish Government committing approximately £3.2 million of financial support. The HNSU also hosts a District Heating Mentoring Programme in collaboration with the Danish Board of District Heating and the Royal Danish Embassy to link Scottish local authorities directly with district heating experience from Denmark to build the capacity and skills required to deliver district heating.
Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) provides capital grant funding to public and private sector organisations to support the rollout of zero-emission heat networks across Scotland which meet key criteria including to provide low carbon and affordable heat to end users. In total, through the SHNF and its predecessor, the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme, Scottish Government has committed approximately £62.6 million to 19 heat network projects, 11 of which are local authority led.
The Scottish Government recognises the important role that community organisations play in identifying and developing local energy solutions and encourage local authorities to undertake community engagement as part of their development of heat networks. As heat networks are inherently local assets, local authority involvement can help to align projects with LHEES and other local plans, and secure third party, private investment where needed. We are currently considering options for community heat network support.