Skip to content
Heat Network Consultants
Menu

South West

Plymouth heat network zone

Plymouth was one of the 28 places in the government's Heat Network Zoning Pilot, which tested how zones would be identified on the ground. In October 2024 it was also named as one of the first six places to develop a heat network zone, sharing £5.8m of funding. No heat network zone has been formally designated anywhere yet, because the zoning regulations are not in force.
Zoning pilot placeEarly zone announcedZone not yet designated

Where things stand in Plymouth

Zone status
Not designated No zone can be formally designated until the zoning regulations are in force.
Zoning regulations
Awaited Not yet laid before Parliament.
Council area
Plymouth
Likely zone coordinator
Plymouth City Council (expected, not confirmed: zone coordination bodies can only be formally set up once regulations are in force)
Zone opportunity report
Prepared by Buro Happold for the zoning pilot. Read the reports on GOV.UK

Announced early zones

  • Plymouth early zone

    Announced

    Announced 25 October 2024

    Named in October 2024 as one of the first six places to develop a heat network zone. The exact boundary has not been published as a designated zone. In May 2026 Plymouth City Council appointed Vital Energi as delivery partner to develop, invest in, operate and expand the city's heat networks.

    Source: Six towns and cities to pilot clean heating innovation (GOV.UK, 25 Oct 2024)

If you own or manage a building in Plymouth

Nothing is legally required of you yet. Once regulations are in force and a zone is designated, the zone developer can ask the coordination body to send connection notices to buildings in the categories the government has set out: new buildings that receive planning permission after the zone is designated; existing buildings with communal heating, both domestic and non-domestic; and existing non-domestic buildings with a wet heating system and average heat demand above 100 MWh a year.

The sensible thing to do now is to understand your annual heat demand, check whether your heating is a wet system and note any lease terms or planned plant replacement that could affect your position.

Will I have to connect?Work out your heat demand

Firms with public work in Plymouth

  • Buro Happold

    Unconfirmed

    Bath · North East, South East, South West

    Engineering consultancy with a place on the government's national heat network zoning framework and three pilot zone reports.

    • Zoning compliance & exemptions
    • Feasibility
    • Design & engineering

  • Vital Energi

    Unconfirmed

    Blackburn · North West, Yorkshire & the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, London, South West, North East, East of England

    Designs, builds, funds and operates heat networks, including Leeds PIPES, and is a delivery partner in Plymouth and Westminster.

    • Feasibility
    • Design & engineering
    • Procurement support
    • Metering & billing

Consultants covering South West

  • AECOM

    Unconfirmed

    London · London, North West, Yorkshire & the Humber, South West, South East

    Global engineering consultancy that wrote several of the government's zoning pilot reports and co-developed the SWAN scheme in Westminster.

    • Zoning compliance & exemptions
    • Feasibility
    • Procurement support
    • Design & engineering

  • Fresh Heat Networks

    Unconfirmed

    Not stated on website · England-wide

    Specialist heat network consultancy covering metering and billing compliance, commissioning, troubleshooting and training.

    • Metering & billing
    • Design & engineering

  • Ramboll

    Unconfirmed

    London · London, South West, Yorkshire & the Humber

    Danish-rooted engineering consultancy that built the government's national zoning model and wrote three pilot zone reports.

    • Zoning compliance & exemptions
    • Feasibility
    • Design & engineering