Heat networks to benefit from £90m funding boost

The Government has announced a £90m investment into heat networks, including a huge project alongside the River Thames.

The London project will supply 650,000 homes with clean heat, with the potential to benefit over a million residents.  

Backed by £41m, it will initially transport hot water 25 kilometres each day by electric barges down the River Thames and then via a specially constructed tunnel underneath the river, heating homes and businesses across the city along the route.  

The project, subject to planning consent, will help unlock around £5 billion of investment in London’s local heat networks and support skilled jobs in tunnelling, engineering and river transport. 

Other schemes to benefit from funding include one in Bradford which will heat homes, a hospital and seven schools and colleges thanks to an extension of the original heat network in the city.