Patrick Harvie MSP uses Clydebank visit to announce new heating fund

The Heat Network Fund will be available to public and private sector bodies looking to power multiple buildings from a communal source.

The fund was announced by zero-carbon buildings minister Patrick Harvie, of the Scottish Green Party, on a visit to the district heating project at the town’s waterfront site.

The project produces electricity using water from the River Clyde and powers nearby buildings, with hopes to extend coverage to other properties such as the nearby West College Scotland campus and the Golden Jubilee Hospital.

Patrick Harvie hopes to power up to a million homes with the new fund (Image: PA)

Mr Harvie said: “By the end of this decade, we aim to have switched over one million homes and the equivalent of 50,000 non-domestic buildings from fossil fuels to zero-emission heating.

“The Heat Network Fund will accelerate the development of heat networks across Scotland as we move towards our ambitious targets set by the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021.

Read More: Clydebank district heading centre wins Scottish Green Energy award

“The projects that receive support from the fund will fully align with the Scottish Government’s aim to eradicate fuel poverty by supplying heat at affordable prices to consumers, which is especially important now when we are seeing record rises in the cost of heating.”

Heat networks have been heralded as methods of producing heat for a number of properties in a way that will be low carbon and affordable to the end consumer.

However, projects often suffer from high start-up costs that can make them difficult to get off the ground.

Mr Harvie added: “There’s a huge appetite I think in Scotland to see more support for heat networks.

Read More: Low-income households in Clydebank supported by share of over £3m, new figures show

“Many people are already aware that our heating systems have to change away from fossil fuel heating systems, but a lot of people are unfamiliar with heat networks, unfamiliar with technology like heat pumps, that are actually much more common in many other European countries so we can learn from the best of what they’ve done.

“But we can also start sharing the stories from projects like this one, where folk are already benefitting from energy that’s coming from a heat network, showing that it’s reliable, that it’s controllable, it’s affordable.”