DECC supports £6 million grant funding programme for the development of new heating and cooling networks

The DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) has launched a new grant funding programme designed to help Local Authorities (LAs) in England and Wales to develop new heating and cooling networks, and expand existing networks.

In order to be able to access the £6 million fund, local authorities must set up ambitious and innovative proposals to develop and deliver heat networks that — as much as possible — draw their heat energy from renewable, sustainable or recoverable sources.

This could include any system in which heat is generated off-site by renewable or recovered sources such as waste heat from industry, energy from waste plants and biomass combined heat and power.

The bidding process to apply for grant funding started on the 20th of September 2013, and will continue for 18 months through a series of six bidding rounds.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said: "Increasing the use of low carbon heating in our buildings is helping to reduce our dependency on costly, imported oil and gas.

"Thanks to the Coalition Government's support, many UK buildings have already made the switch from traditional fuels to low carbon heat sources. This new grant funding programme builds on these successes by helping Local Authorities develop more commercially viable low carbon heat networks."