Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department is taking steps to increase private investment into the heat networks industry from sources outside of existing Government schemes.

As acknowledged in the recent Green Finance Strategy, heat networks will require significant private sector finance to help deliver decarbonised heating. The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero is engaging with both the public and private sectors to encourage private investment into the market. This includes policies such as heat network zoning and market regulation to improve the investment environment for heat network investors, publicising the pipeline of heat network projects which currently stands at £2.2 billion, and working with the UK Investment Bank to encourage private sector funding into the development of local authority led heat networks.