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Email us →UK heat networks, CCUS clusters and industrial decarbonisation intelligence.
Three volumes on this sector, every figure traced to a named primary source and carried at a stated verification date. We read DESNZ, the Energy Act 2023, HM Treasury, the four cluster operators and the CCSA so that you do not have to. Scroll down to see what is in them.
Heat network zoning has moved from a policy intention to an obligation with a named authority behind it.
Nothing downstream of a cluster moves until the cluster does.
The heat network architecture, the four anchor clusters, and the emerging deep-heat technologies behind them.
Plus the deep-heat schemes at United Downs, Gateshead, Glasgow and Stoke.
Check whether a zone has been designated before you price a heat network connection into a scheme.
Track East Coast, HyNet, Acorn and Viking against their published readiness gates rather than announcements.
See where BECCS and blue hydrogen sit behind each cluster, and what has to happen first.
Read the geothermal and mine-water schemes with their operators and their evidence, not their press releases.
A heat network, often called district heating, pipes hot water from one central source to many buildings instead of each one having its own boiler. Industrial clusters are groups of factories, refineries and power plants that plan to capture their carbon dioxide and pipe it into rock under the sea. They are on the Humber and Teesside, in north-west England and north Wales, and in north-east Scotland.
Ofgem has regulated heat networks since 27 January 2026, so if you run one you now answer to it, starting with registration (see the dates below). Green Heat Network Fund grants to build schemes come to £195 million a year up to and including 2029/30, according to the government's June 2026 guidance for applicants.
Plan ahead for heat network zones. These are areas where some buildings could be required to join a heat network. At least 10 of England's biggest towns and cities are lined up to be the first, with government backing.
Don't bank on the timetable, though. In January 2026 the government said it expected to put the zoning rules before Parliament in spring 2026, and as of 9 November 2026 they're still not on legislation.gov.uk.
Once the rules are law and a zone is in place, whoever runs the zone will be able to make some buildings connect when the network's developer asks. That covers new buildings, buildings already heated from a shared system, and larger existing non-domestic buildings with hot-water heating, such as offices and factories. Check whether your scheme sits in a likely zone before you choose its heating.
Follow the funding if you work on cluster projects. On 4 October 2024 the government made up to £21.7 billion available over 25 years for the first two clusters, HyNet and the East Coast Cluster. On 12 June 2025, the day after the Spending Review, the government backed carbon capture with £9.4 billion, including around £200 million of development funding for Acorn in Scotland and further development funding for Viking on the Humber.
| Figure | What it is | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| £195 million a year | Green Heat Network Fund grants up to and including 2029/30 | GOV.UK guidance for applicants, 10 June 2026 |
| £21.7 billion | Funding available over 25 years for the first two carbon capture clusters | GOV.UK, 4 October 2024 |
| £9.4 billion | Government backing for carbon capture following the 2025 Spending Review | GOV.UK, 12 June 2025 |
Register with Ofgem by 26 January 2027 if you run an existing heat network the rules cover, or if you sell heat from one to customers.
Watch the City of London. It expects to name its Square Mile heat network partner in November 2026, and its tender timetable has the development agreement signed on 26 November.
Read the latest heat and industrial news in The Wire below, including heat pump loans and grants, with a link to each source. Open any project on our map to see when we last checked it.
Expect some Irish news or projects in the lists below. If Ireland is where you bid, our Ireland volumes cover its market separately, sector by sector.
Not sure which of our reports you need? Email book@gridteamai.com and we'll point you to the right one. Figures checked 9 November 2026.
The 3 reports in this sector frame the UK heat decarbonisation decade and the industrial cluster build-out programme.
Watch this sector live on the boards — the Heatmap for its projects, the Data Board for its targets against delivery.
Open any volume and you get consultancy-grade depth: twelve findings, headline figures, the Director's Six-Check, a glossary of named entities, and named UK developers across each technology pathway. deep report PDF + two-page Crib Sheet + quarterly Currency Addendum.
£295 single volume · from £99 a month, or £995 a year: one named reader — the full multi-volume catalogue, every new volume released during the year, and the 120 Safety Moments. Team £2,495/yr (up to 10 named readers) · Enterprise £4,995/yr (whole company, up to 250 employees) · Corporate £9,995/yr (above 250 employees).
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