Hull is building a £42m district heating network to supply low carbon heat and hot water to buildings in the city centre. Instead of each building running its own gas boiler, the scheme uses air source and water source heat pumps to generate heat, then moves it through underground pipes to connected properties. Work is due to finish in summer 2027. The project is backed by the Green Heat Network Fund and the Levelling Up Fund. Over 40 years it is expected to cut around 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, roughly the same as taking 55,000 cars off the road. It should also improve local air quality by reducing fossil fuel combustion in a dense urban area. For anyone tracking UK heat decarbonization, Hull is worth watching because it is a city scale example of using heat pumps in a district network. The real test will be take-up, connection costs, and whether the heat pumps run efficiently enough to beat gas on price.
