The webinar ''Government funding for heat networks – what does it mean for the future?', will cover the new Green Heat Network Fund and the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme.

These Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) funding programmes will support the transition to low carbon generation and improve the energy performance of existing district and community heating schemes.

Tim Ward, stakeholder engagement manager for the Government's Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF), will explain how heat suppliers can now apply for capital grants under the £10m GHNF Transition Scheme funding. This will support the commercialisation of low-carbon heat network projects so that they are construction-ready in time to apply to the GHNF full scheme, which opens for applications in April 2022.

He will be joined by Alex Trebowicz, Heat Network Efficiency Scheme Lead, from BEIS, who will explain opportunities to raise the performance of legacy heat schemes under the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme – scheduled to launch later this financial year.

Webinar Chair Ian Allan, head of market strategy for Switch2, will outline some of the technical and commercial solutions and challenges involved in optimising heat network efficiency and shifting to lower carbon generation.

Mr Allan said: 'Heat networks have a major role to play in the UK's urgent heat decarbonisation challenge. Our webinar will help heat suppliers from both the public and private sectors to access financial support to reduce the capital costs of transitioning to low and zero carbon generation technologies.

'Raising the energy performance standard of the UK's existing 17,000 networks is also crucial to delivering progress on carbon reduction. Delegates will find out how the upcoming Heat Network Efficiency Scheme can help them address the triple challenge of sustainability, cost management and reliability.'