The British government is pushing a project to use waste heat from data centres and other sources and to improve ageing heat networks to supply low-carbon heating to more than 750,000 households.

Tech outlet TechRadar reported on Monday that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) will support a total of 90 million pounds for building new heat networks and improving existing facilities. Heat networks warm water using surplus heat from data centres or factories and then supply heating and hot water to multiple buildings through pipes.

The biggest project will be in London. The government plans to invest 41 million pounds to build a large-scale heat network linking areas along and beneath the River Thames. The goal is to supply heating to about 650,000 households. The government expects the project to attract about 5 billion pounds in private and local investment once it is under way. New facilities must obtain separate planning permission.

Before the pipeline network is completed, a plan is also being pursued to load hot water onto an electric barge and transport it along a 25 km stretch of the Thames each day. Later, heat will be supplied to homes and businesses through a dedicated tunnel and pipes to be built under the river. The outlet forecast: "The barge method is expected to begin operating from 2028."

Support will also be provided by region. Bradford will receive 9.7 million pounds to expand an existing heat network, and Solihull will receive 3.9 million pounds. London Bexley and Greenwich have been allocated 11.5 million pounds, and Marble Arch 11.4 million pounds. In Manchester and in Newport and Abergavenny in Wales, ageing heating networks will be repaired.

The British government plans to expand waste heat-based district heating already used in European cities such as Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Vienna and Berlin to reduce reliance on gas while also pursuing lower heating costs and improved energy efficiency.