The £378,780 funding will take Zero through to Phase 2 of the ‘Heat Network Small Business Research Initiative Competition’, launched by DECC in order to identify innovation that will help deliver the government’s ambitions for heat network development, cost-effectively meeting 43 percent of the UK heat demand by 2050. The grant is aimed at promoting heat networks across the country, a technology that could play a key role in helping to meet UK and global heat demands in an emissions-constrained future.
According to a report by the government’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC), heat networks can play an important role in the overall plan for lower carbon heating in the decades ahead. There are already around 2,000 heat networks across the UK, supplying heat to 210,000 dwellings and 1,700 commercial and public buildings. A further 150 schemes are known to be under development by local authorities across the UK.
Zero has been working in close collaboration with another Exeter firm, Granted – which provides bespoke grant funding advice to private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
“This is brilliant news, as it means our development team can move forward with our project to encourage the use of heat networks and to help drive down energy bills and boost low carbon heat supplies in the UK” said Zero Managing Director Finian Parrick. “We are passionate about advancing low carbon heating technologies and this grant will help us to do exactly that.”
Mr Finian added that the company is very grateful for the support provided by Granted throughout the process, without which Zero would never have had the time, capability or resources to secure the government grant. Zero has been working with Granted for the last five years.
Reaching Phase 1 enabled Zero to demonstrate the feasibility of its proposed project. Phase 2 will involving demonstrating the technology on existing heat networks or those due for construction by the end of 2015.
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