JOB DESCRIPTION

Are you interested in working on one of the key areas for ensuring the UK meets its net zero ambitions? If so, the DESNZ Heat Networks Policy team might be the place for you!
Heat networks distribute heat or cooling from a central source or sources, and deliver it to a variety of different customers such as public buildings, shops, offices, hospitals, universities, and homes. By supplying multiple buildings, they avoid the need for individual boilers or electric heaters in every building.
Heat networks are vital to decarbonising heat in UK buildings and achieving our net zero by 2050 objective. This is because they often represent the lowest cost, low carbon heating option in dense urban areas. They are also uniquely able to unlock otherwise inaccessible large-scale renewable and recovered heat sources, such as large rivers, geothermal and industrial heat. This allows them to reduce bills, support local regeneration and provide a cost-effective way of reducing carbon emissions from heating. This boosts the UK’s energy security and independence and reduces our reliance on imported fossil fuels.
There are over 14,000 heat networks in the UK, providing heating and hot water to approximately 480,000 households. Our analysis shows that heat networks could provide about 20% of total heat by 2050. They currently provide about 2-3%.
Delivering this scale of market growth and decarbonisation requires measures to protect consumer interests and enhance investor confidence in the technology. That’s where we, the Heat Networks Policy Team, come in. We are leading on establishing a heat networks regulatory framework which will ensure that heat network consumers are protected from high prices and unreliable heat supply, and that networks are subject to carbon emissions limits. We are also introducing heat network zoning, which will identify and designate areas where heat networks are expected to be the lowest cost solution for decarbonising heat. Heat networks regulation and zoning will be delivered through the Energy Act (2023).
The postholder will join at a point prior zoning regulations coming into force and will initially form part of the “shadow” Heat Network Zoning Authority (HNZA) that is expected to be responsible for overseeing heat network zoning deployment throughout England. Following the expected enactment of heat network zoning regulations the postholder would be a key member of the HNZA reporting to the head of commercial within the HNZA.

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

Commercial
Corporate Finance
Policy