On Copenhagen’s waterfront, skiers glide down a slope atop an 85-metre-high building. Beneath it, the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant burns non-recyclable waste at up to 1,100C, warming water through a 3,000km network of insulated pipes. The plant generates enough heat for 150,000 homes and is part of a clean district-heating network supplying 98 per cent of the city’s heating needs.
Large-scale district heating networks already serve several European cities. Stockholm’s 3,000km network heats and cools 800,000 homes, while Reykjavík relies on geothermal energy and Geneva plans to heat half its buildings via district heating by 2050. In the UK, 477,000 homes are now heated by networks, with targets to double network-provided heat by 2035 and serve a fifth of UK heating demand by 2050.
Last year, 21 projects received £224mn from the Green Heat Network Fund. A 2023 study found heat-network customers paid less than two-thirds for heating and hot water compared with non-network peers. Critics cite high infrastructure costs and the UK’s chequered history with large-scale projects, but England’s Future Homes Standard, starting next March, will introduce low-carbon heating standards for new homes.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing