Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES)
Funding
£5,000 – £9,999,900
Deadline
1 April 2030
Location
England, Wales
Applications
Deadline: 1 April 2030
Overview
The Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES) funds improvements to existing district or communal heating systems in England and Wales. Your heating network must currently be performing poorly for customers or operators. You can apply for two types of grant. Revenue grants pay for expert studies to find out why your system is underperforming and what to fix. Capital grants part-fund the actual installation of those improvements. Grants range from £5,000 to just under £10 million. The scheme is open to public, private, and third sector applicants. The deadline to apply is 1 April 2028.
Requirements to check
Who can apply:
Key requirements:
- Must operate an existing district heating or communal heating network
- Network must be performing sub-optimally
- Projects must be located in England or Wales
This summary may not include every exclusion. Check the full eligibility rules, including who and what the funder will not support.
This grant is for public, private, or third sector organisations that own or operate district heating or communal heating networks in England or Wales. Your network must be underperforming and causing poor outcomes for customers or operators. It is not for new heating projects or systems outside England and Wales.
Awards published
1,339
Typical award
£221,006
Most awards
£52,220 to £856,705
Most funded region
London
44 awards in 2025, down from 480 the year before.
Recent awards include Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (£40,000, 2025), Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (£33,561, 2025) and Wolverhampton City Council (£1,732,795, 2025).
Contains data from 360Giving publishers, used under open licence.
Full details from Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES) provides funding to public, private and third sector applicants, to support improvements to existing district heating or communal heating projects in England and Wales that are operating sub-optimally and resulting in poor outcomes for customers and operators. Projects can apply to HNES for either revenue or capital grant funding: Revenue grants – grants to fund procurement or mobilisation of external third-party support to carry out Optimisation Studies. These studies will assess heat network projects to identify causes of sub-optimal performance and recommend costed intervention or improvement measures. Capital grants – grants to part-fund the delivery (installation) of eligible intervention/improvement measures.
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