Mancunians support ‘heat highway’ to bring excess industrial heat to save almost £9 billion

A new study conducted by EnergiRaven, supported by Viegand Maagøe, using data from Ordnance Survey has found that new and existing industries in Greater Manchester will generate enough excess heat to meet the heating needs of 85% of Manchester’s homes. Taking into account energy wasted as heat from data centres, power generation, water treatment, breweries and other industry across the area, EnergiRaven calculated that heating homes using a heat network would save £8.83bn compared to the current status quo of gas and direct electric panel heating, over a period of 20 years.

Based on a detailed study of heat sources and consumers, mapped using detailed data from the OS National Geographic Database (NGD), EnergiRaven has developed a proposed route for a ‘Heat Highway’ that would take heat from these industries, store it as hot water, and use it to heat homes.

Greater Manchester is particularly well suited to start benefitting from excess heat. It has a wide variety of heat sources – from food manufacturing at the Wigan Heinz plant to the massive Carrington Power Station. The city’s industrial heritage gives it an advantage when it comes to cheap heat – mine heat areas have already been identified in the region as suitable locations where water can be naturally heated underground and pumped to the surface.

Manchester’s Heat Demand

At the same time, Manchester is experiencing a building boom, with several development zones designated in the area. The Victoria North development is one of the largest in Europe, with 15,000 new homes planned.

“There is enough excess energy to heat all the new homes that we are building in Manchester if we join the dots” said Simon Kerr, Head of Heat Networks at EnergiRaven. “Technically – there is no need to generate new heat in the city centre. The heat network could use what we already have.”

Mancunians are currently locked into particularly expensive energy thanks to the fact that many high-rise buildings rely on electric panel heating, which is cheap to install but expensive to run, even as renewables become cheaper. Meanwhile, OS data on housing condition identifies many pockets of buildings in the area as ‘hard to heat homes’ – older buildings that struggle to retain heat due to their construction material or lack of insulation, leading to higher bills. There are also several areas of high fuel poverty in and around Manchester. These buildings can be supplied with higher temperature heating from the heat network, allowing them to make fabric improvements over time, rather than upfront. Similarly, new build developments can receive lower temperatures to suit better performing buildings.

Thinking Bigger

The potential route of the network enables heat to come into the city from large sources outside, often following the route of existing canals or railways, which make planning and construction easier. This also has the benefit of linking up areas of high fuel poverty to the network as a priority.

Many streets in Manchester are terraced, which makes installation of heat network connections easier and cheaper.

Cutting Across the Net Zero Culture War

This proposal comes after a survey by EnergiRaven found that the concept of a heat network enjoyed broad support in Manchester. 70% of residents polled would support a network like this. This concept cut across political divides – 70% of Reform voters were in favour of the idea, compared to 80% of Labour voters, and 86% of Conservative voters. Similarly to the rest of the country, 57% of Mancunians believe that data centre planning permission should be contingent on some form of heat sharing arrangement.

Joined-up Heat Policy

The foundation for heat network zones in Manchester already exists – several have been identified, which show where heat from networks is likely to be the cheapest low carbon option. However, failing to join these individual heat network zones, each relying on its own air source heat pump, would be far more costly than a joined-up approach. Crucially, using the Danish model and Copenhagen as an example, the proposed heat highway links up individual networks that currently rely solely on onsite generation, allowing them to evolve and instead take advantage of the abundant waste heat that requires economies of scale to be utilised, which would save £18bn over 20 years by comparison.

Simon Kerr adds: “Small local networks can be useful, especially where they connect a group of nearby buildings. But they often cannot access the biggest and cheapest heat sources, and they can struggle to grow beyond their original area. A larger, joined-up Heat Highway can do more because it connects many customers, many sources and many places into one long-term system.”

Peter Maagøe, Director and Partner in Viegand Maagøe explains: “This model is ambitious, but it’s achievable. Copenhagen has a similarly sized heat network, and Manchester has many advantages which make it well suited for a large-scale heat network. At a time when energy security and bringing down bills are at the top of the agenda, it is clear that this technology could bring home-grown heat into British homes. EnergiRaven and OS data have shown exactly where the heat is, where it is needed and how to connect the two. Mancunians now have the evidence, the public support and the political will across the political spectrum. What is now needed is a formal commitment to make the Heat Highway a strategic infrastructure priority – and for Government to match that ambition with long-term financing options. Vision becomes reality when someone decides to go first."

Chris Wilton, Sector Lead for Utilities at OS said: “The pace and urgency of the energy transition means that the UK needs to be on the lookout for any and all opportunities to bring down bills and be smarter about how we use energy. This is a perfect example of how quality location data can enable just that. By bringing together insights on energy, homes, businesses, infrastructure, and communities, we can take a fresh look at where heat is being created and consumed and explore new possibilities to bring energy where it is needed.”

"OS is already supporting the delivery of low‑carbon heat networks and government heat decarbonisation ambitions. This includes working with Arup, appointed in 2024 by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), to provide trusted and authoritative data, digital and energy modelling services to support the assurance processes around the underlying zoning model for Heat Networks in the UK. We’re proud to see our data underpinning the critical decisions and insights that are progressing the UK’s transition to cleaner, cheaper and more resilient energy."

Chris Unsworth, Head of ADE, Heat Networks: "These findings show what’s at stake if we think big about heat networks. A joined-up Heat Highway that captures waste heat at scale isn’t just more efficient, it’s dramatically more cost-effective compared to fragmented, zone-by-zone approaches. That’s a clear signal that strategic infrastructure, not piecemeal delivery, is how we bring down costs for consumers while accelerating heat decarbonisation. The opportunity now is to turn this kind of system-level, cross-vector thinking into delivery on the ground, building heat networks that work as a national asset."

EnergiRaven is calling for Greater Manchester to lead the UK’s first publicly led regional Heat Highway, with central government backing the region through long-term infrastructure funding. It also says planning authorities should ensure that major waste-heat producers, especially future data centres, are designed for heat recovery and connection where networks exist or are planned.