A local heat source your zone can contract.
Data centres near your buildings already produce low-carbon heat. We turn that heat into a supply you can put under contract, starting with one large user and growing into a network.
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Zoning and regulation
Heat network zoning
The Energy Act 2023 created powers for heat network zones in England. These are areas where a heat network is expected to be the cheapest route to low-carbon heat. In a zone, certain buildings, such as large non-domestic and new buildings, can be required to connect. Local zone coordinators will take the lead.
Ofgem regulation
In 2026, heat networks come under Ofgem regulation. That means consumer protection rules now, and technical standards to follow. Any heat supply you contract has to fit that regime.
What that means for heat sources
A zone is only as good as the heat it can contract. Data centres are reliable, all-year, low-carbon heat sources, but they need someone to turn their heat into a supply agreement. That’s the work we do.
How we plug into local heat demand
We carry the development work and its risk. You keep control of what gets built in your area and who runs it.
Find the heat
We screen data centres in and near your zone for heat that can be recovered, and for how well their temperatures and timing match local demand.
Sign the supply
We agree a heat supply with the data centre operator, covering volumes, temperatures and price.
Match it to an anchor
We start with one large heat user, such as a hospital, leisure centre, council estate or factory, and sign an offtake agreement.
Take it to ready to build
We secure consent, pipe route rights, the grid connection for the heat pumps and a detailed design, and prepare the Green Heat Network Fund application.
You choose who runs it
A council-owned company, an energy services company or a heat network operator buys the project and runs it.
Point-to-point first
A full district network can take 3–5 years. One data centre to one anchor user can be done in 12–24 months, and it becomes the backbone the network grows from.
Phase 1 · 12–24 months
One heat source, one anchor user and one pipe. Carbon savings you can count early, and a working asset to build on.
Later · 3–5 years
Extend to housing, schools and offices as the zone develops and connection requirements take effect.
Heat recovery conditions on data centres
If you’re putting heat recovery conditions on data centre consents, operators need a practical way to meet them. We give them that route. We find the buyer for the heat, design the scheme, and deliver it through specialist contractors, so the operator takes on no construction risk.
That makes a condition easier to set, and more likely to lead to heat actually being delivered.
Funding
The Green Heat Network Fund supports new and existing low-carbon heat networks in England, with grants of up to 50% of eligible costs. We build the funding application into development from the start, so a project reaches a buyer with its grant already in place.
Talk to us about heat in your area.
Tell us about the zone, the anchor loads you have in mind, or a data centre you know about. We'll tell you whether there's a point-to-point project in it.