Whilst electrification will be the dominant form of heat decarbonisation nationally and in South Yorkshire, heat networks remain part of the optimal future energy mix solutions. The Warm Homes Plan sets the ambitious government target to more than double the amount of heat demand met via heat networks in England to 7% by 2035, with the expectation that they’ll provide a fifth of all heat by 2050.
SYSC’s project, Producing a roadmap for the decarbonisation of housing in South Yorkshire, sought to respond to this challenge by developing an energy system model that demonstrates which parts of the region are better suited for heat pumps or district heat networks. Through a pair of case studies, the SYSC Consolidated Research Report has explored the economic viability and decarbonisation potential for district heat networks and their expansion within South Yorkshire.
Key Insights:
The ”Decarbonisation of Residential Heat for the South Yorkshire Region” case study found that, for 4% of South Yorkshire’s housing stock, connection to a district heat network was economically viable. Viability depended on housing density and proximity to high demand customers such as hospitals and schools.
By applying different models of DHN development to understand how different policy approaches (‘Profit-driven’, ‘Social Maximising’ and ‘Social-Leaning’) might play out in terms of continuous network expansion and profitability we found that a sustained growth trajectory was only possible under the Social-Leaning strategy. This describes centralised planning policies that balance commercial interest with social good. Network expansion under this strategy occurs in multiple phases over the 25-year simulation, enabling the development of larger, more integrated networks that connect a broader range of urban areas, achieving both the highest linear heat density (21,352 kWh/m/year) and the highest cumulative profit (£17.8M).
We also investigated economic viability and achievable carbon reductions of different heat sources for the DHNs, such as waste heat and minewater in the “Heat Network Zoning” case study. Utilising waste heat from industry and energy-from-waste is projected to save around 3.5% on the annualised cost of heating for the region, versus the scenario with pure electrification. Utilising these heat sources could also reduce annual emissions by around 45000 tCO2, or 3% of the total with electrification. Development of minewater sources was not found to be cost-optimal in this study with energy prices around 1.5p/kWh more expensive than electrification resulting in a rise of circa £200 per annum for a typical house. Minewater sources could enable further cuts to emissions provided efficiency is high but this has not yet been demonstrated.
Where dwellings are connected to heat networks, certain fabric retrofit measures are also recommended to implement beforehand. These recommended measures are loft insulation and cavity wall insulation. These measures reduce energy peak loads which leads to network savings of ~10%, as well as reduced energy costs. Floor insulation and solid wall insulation were found to be borderline cost-effective (cost of installation vs. operational savings and DHN infrastructure savings).
View the case studies in full below
Read the case studies in full below:
