Sources of heat

Heat Trust's customer protection standards for heat networks do not specify fuel source, so any heat network no matter the fuel type can register with us. To find out more about registering with Heat Trust please see our supplier pages, or for more information for customers please see here. 

Heat networks can source their heat from any fuel or generation process; this is sometimes known as being fuel agnostic.
Typical examples of heat sources for heat networks are: gas boilers, Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants, wasted heat (from industrial processes, wastewater treatment etc.) and biomass fuelled boilers. More heat networks are now being heated by technologies such as large-scale heat pumps (usually water or ground), geothermal sources or even underground transport. We have highlighted some examples of these in the UK below. There are also projects in development in the UK and operational internationally using waste heat from mine water, deep geothermal, data centres, greenhouses and large-scale solar thermal (often with seasonal thermal stores) to power heat networks.

Heat networks can also make use of thermal stores (large insulated tanks of hot water). These can either provide heating temporarily if the primary source of heat fails, therefore increasing the reliability of supply for customers; or they can supply heat at a time of high demand on the fuel source to help balance out demand. The time these can supply heat for depends on the size of the store, ranging from a few hours with small tanks to between seasons with large ground pits.

Gas

Currently most heat networks (90%) use gas as their primary fuel source, typically through one or more gas-fired boilers. The gas is usually sourced from the national gas grid, and of the UK’s total gas demand in 2018, about 50% came from the UK’s contintental shelf and 50% was imported. However 'biogas' from anaerobic digesters, e.g. at sewage treatment works, can also provide the gas fuel for heat networks.

Some gas boilers produce only heat, like individual property boilers, however some produce electricity (burning the gas to create steam which turns turbines) and capture the excess heat at the same time. This is known as a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant (which can also use fuels other than gas) and is often more efficient than generating electricity or heat independently of each other.

Name	Bicester Heat Network
Fuel Source	Gas CHP
Location	Elmsbrook, Oxfordshire
Size	800KWe CHP engine, 80m3 thermal store and back up gas boilers
Types of end users	393 zero carbon homes, a primary school, local shop, eco pub and community centre
Interesting facts	Part of the UK’s first Eco-town, aiming to be zero carbon
Links to find out more	www.zerocarbonhub.org

 

 

Name	Bristol Paintworks
Fuel Source	Gas boilers
Location	Bristol
Size	8 x 250 kWe modular gas boilers
Types of end users	221 residential apartments and town houses, studios, offices, a café bar and exhibition venue
Interesting facts	It is a redeveloped paint and varnish factory
Links to find out more	www.vitalenergi.co.uk/casestudies/paintworks

 

Wasted heat

Many industrial processes generate heat as a by-product, such as incinerators, underground transport and sewage treatment works. Heat networks can make use of otherwise wasted heat by transporting it to an end user that requires heat. This is often limited by the end-users of heat not being close enough to the source of wasted heat.

Energy From Waste (incinerator)

Name	SELCHP (South East London Combined Heat and Power)
Fuel Source	Waste heat from incinerator (combusts waste from households to create electricity)
Location	Southwark, London
Size	5km heating network for heat and hot water 2,500 Southwark properties
Types of end users	Residential
Interesting facts	It came from a consortium of three London Boroughs trying to tackle environmental problems and issues of landfill space, using waste that cannot be recycled for electricity generation
Links to find out more	www.selchp.com

 

Waste from transport

The London Underground produces waste heat, mostly from friction of the trains on the rails. Through adding a heat pump, the temperature of the heat captured can be raised to provide heating to a heat network.

Name	Bunhill Heat Network
Fuel Source	Waste heat from London Underground (Northern Line)
Location	Ventilation shaft of Northern Line of London Underground, Central Street
Size	1MW heat pump to heat an additional further 1,000 homes Existing: 2MW CHP with large thermal store
Types of end users	Existing: 800 homes in Bunhill ward, as well as Finsbury Leisure Centre, Ironmonger Row Baths and offices on Old Street
Interesting facts	Phase 1 has been in operation with a CHP since 2012. Phase 2 is to connect to the Underground in 2019. During the summer months, the system will be reversed to inject cool air into the tube tunnels.
Links to find out more	www.energyadvice.islington.gov.uk/bunhill-heat-and-power

 

Waste heat from sewage treatment works

Some of the processes used to treat wastewater, including sewage, involve anaerobic digestion of organic matter within the waste water, which generates heat as well as producing gas.

Name	Stirling heat network
Fuel Source	Waste heat from wastewater treatment works and biogas CHP from the anaerobic digesters on site
Location	Stirling, Scotland
Size
Types of end users	Key public buildings, including The Peak Leisure Centre, Forthbank Stadium, St Modan’s High School, numerous commercial offices and new build homes
Interesting facts	First CHP in UK to be used with heat from waste water pump system to deliver heat for a heat network. It is expected to save around 381 tonnes of carbon a year.
Links to find out more	uk.ramboll.com/news/ruk/stirling-heat-network

 

Biomass

Biomass usually comes in the form of wood pellets burned in a furnace. These wood pellets can come from waste/off-cuts from the wood industry or virgin woodland.

Name	Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Fuel Source	Woodchip fueled biomass boiler for heat generation and a combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) plant using natural gas
Location	London, converted Olympic Park (2012 games)
Size	Initial capacity of 46.5 MW of heating and 16 MW of cooling in two energy centres 16km heating network and 2km cooling network
Types of end users	Olympic Park, the Westfield shopping centre, residents of East Village and the neighbouring area
Interesting facts	It is the largest decentralised energy scheme in the UK It heated the Olympic Park and Village during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Links to find out more	www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk

  

Heat pumps

Heat pumps capture heat energy from either ground, water or air, and then through a pump powered by electricity increase the temperature to heat homes and buildings. This increase or ‘upgrade’ in temperature works in a similar way to how a fridge is cooled but in reverse. Heat is generated through rapidly increasing the pressure of refridgerant gasses in a contained space, this increases the temperature of the gases, which can pass to adjacent water or air, piped onwards. At the scale of heat networks, only water or ground source heat pumps tend to be used.

Water Source

Name	Queen’s Quay
Fuel Source	2 x 2.6 MW water source heat pumps, from the River Clyde
Location	Clydebank, Glasgow
Size	2.5km of heating network
Types of end users	Local homes, businesses and public buildings such as West Scotland College and Clydebank Library and over 1,000 new homes
Interesting facts	First heat network powered by a river-source heat pump in Scotland
Links to find out more	www.neatpumps.com

 

Ground Source

Name	Enfield Council: Ground Loop Array Heat Pump
Fuel Source	Ground source heat pump
Location	Enfield, London
Size	4km heating network
Types of end users	402 flats in 8 tower blocks
Interesting facts	100 boreholes capture the heat at depths between 197 – 227m It replaced electric heating which was expensive
Links to find out more	www.smartsustainablecities.uk

 

Geothermal

In the UK the top 10 - 15m of ground is heated by the sun and acts as a thermal store. By running pipes of water through the ground at these depths, the heat will be transferred to the water, which can then go on to heat people's homes. In some places, such as Iceland, the heat from volcanic activity (and heat conducted upwards from the Earth’s core and mantle) can be captured, which have much higher temperatures.

Geothermal is different to ground source heat pumps because electric pumps aren't used to raise the temperatures, and their pipes tend to go deeper into the ground.

Name	Southampton District Energy Scheme (SDES)
Fuel Source	Large-scale CHP plant, supplemented by geothermal energy and conventional boilers; also provides cooling
Location	Southampton
Size	Over 40 GWh of heat p.a
Types of end users	TV studios, a hospital, a university, a shopping centre, a civic centre, residential buildings and a hotel – as well as public and private-sector residential developments.
Interesting facts	Currently saving around 10,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions p.a.
Links to find out more	www.engie.co.uk/energy/district-energy/southampton

  

• Prev
• Next