New vision for low carbon Bristol announced as more homes and businesses than ever now connected to heat network  

As Bristol moves to a low carbon future, Vattenfall, which is constructing the district heating network as part of the Bristol City Leap programme, has unveiled its vision for over half of all Bristolians living, working and learning in the city to be kept warm by the Bristol heat network by 2050.  

A major milestone has been achieved with Vattenfall now supplying or will supply low carbon heat to the equivalent of 11,500 homes in Bristol. 35 buildings have already connected with five more currently in the process of connecting. 

In the last year, Bristol has seen existing buildings retrofitted and connected to the heat network alongside new urban developments and state-of-the-art commercial spaces. Each building represents a commitment to decarbonising their heating systems while supporting Bristol’s carbon neutrality goals.  

Work to deliver the vision continues apace as Vattenfall begins preparations to construct a new heat network area in the city centre called the Frome heat network area, spanning from the Frome Gateway Regeneration area to Harbourside, with works expected to begin later this year.  

Vattenfall has also submitted an application for planning permission for the Bath Road Energy Centre - a large air-source heat pump facility near Bristol Temple Meads. It is designed to generate low carbon heat for over seven thousand more buildings and reduce carbon emissions by up to 65%.  

In the last year: 

• Soapworks, a new urban development, has agreed to connect to the heat network 
• Welcome Building, a commercial building, has connected to the heat network 
  Vattenfall has upgraded historic pipework in Redcliffe  
• Vattenfall has installed new heat network pipe routes in Bedminster (via Windmill Hill City Farm) and Temple (as part of the development of Bristol Temple Quarter) which will allow new buildings to be connected and help interconnect the heat network areas into one single citywide network 

Heat networks provide a city-scale solution to decarbonising heat, enabling a faster transition away from individual gas boilers. New energy centres embedded into the city’s industrial architecture will capture heat already available in the environment from places like the floating harbour, data centres and even abandoned mines.

By distributing centrally generated heat to multiple buildings – sourced from water, air, and waste heat – there is a widespread reduction of carbon emissions, improved operational efficiency, and resilience of energy systems at both a building and city level. This is good for customers who benefit from a more secure, reliable and fairly priced service. 

Dom Barton, Vattenfall's Director of Heat Networks - Bristol, said: 
“We’ll be working hand in hand with communities across Bristol to remove fossil fuels and create a low carbon future where we live, work and learn. Thousands of homes and businesses are already benefitting from our reliable, resilient heat networks and we’re working to connect thousands more.” 

Notes to editors 
Vattenfall supplies heating and hot water to both commercial and residential customers – this is why it is equivalent to 11,500 homes. 

Read more about the 2050 Vision here.