Low-carbon Heat Networks Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Energy Security & Net Zero
Lord Porter of Spalding
Main Page: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Porter of Spalding's debates with the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero
Low-carbon Heat Networks
Lord Porter of Spalding Excerpts(1 day, 8 hours ago)
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Lord Whitehead (Lab)
The noble Earl is quite right to emphasise how important it is to accelerate the rollout of heat networks, particularly in view of the present gas volatility crisis. As has already been mentioned, heat networks can source their heat from anywhere. For many years Southampton heat network, if I dare mention it, has sourced its heat from geothermal energy. There are many other heat networks that can source heat from waste heat, mine heat and, as has also been mentioned, the future heat from data centres. So the customer greatly benefits from having access to heat that otherwise would not be accessible so far as a home is concerned. That is why we are determined to push forward with heat networks as fast as we can, and to make sure that the target—that is, 20% of heat from networks as a portion of heat overall—is achieved in very good time.
Lord Porter of Spalding (Con)
My Lords, what risk assessment did the Government undertake before they moved the regulation of social housing landlords’ heating networks from the Housing Ombudsman to Ofgem? The result is that Ofgem can launch unlimited fines based on annual turnover: this will create a push for the big social landlords to take out heat networks, not put them in. At the moment they are controlled by fines levied by the ombudsman, and these are considerably lower than those Ofgem will be able to raise against them.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
The regulations came in on 27 January, and this move to properly regulate the heat network field was due to the fact that the system had very little overall regulation before and was dependent on some voluntary heat regulation schemes. In many instances it was not satisfactory so far as consumers were concerned. The emphasis on the regulation was a fair deal for consumers, but it also means a fair deal for those good heat network operators which want to play by the rules and make sure that their heat networks are as good as they can be.