Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at 2:00 pm on 25 September 2025.
Sarah Boyack
Labour
2:00,
25 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress on the development and expansion of heat networks across Scotland, including any plans it has to accelerate deployment to meet heat network decarbonisation targets. (S6O-04992)
Gillian Martin
Scottish National Party
The Scottish Government has supported local authorities to prepare local heat and energy efficiency strategies, which have identified opportunities for district heating schemes in every area of Scotland. Scotland’s heat network fund has awarded £11.9 million since 2022. Our Government’s heat network support unit is building a pipeline of investable projects, having so far supported 42 projects with funding of £2.3 million.
We are undertaking a strategic review of the role of the Scottish Government, local authorities and the private sector in deploying heat networks, and we will inform Parliament of our next steps in due course.
Sarah Boyack
Labour
In Sweden, over half of homes are now heated by district heat networks, which are expected to use energy that comes almost entirely from renewable or waste sources. In the Netherlands and Denmark, municipalities have had statutory heat planning in place for decades.
Will the Cabinet secretary outline what additional investment the Scottish Government will now allocate to our councils, given the huge financial and staff pressures that they face? That would make it possible for us not only to meet the Scottish Government’s targets by 2030, but to have municipally owned heat networks, which would have accountability and could reinvest profits back into their communities.
Gillian Martin
Scottish National Party
Given the number of heat networks that need to be built in Scotland, we are trying to put a strategy behind this work. Heat networks are very investable propositions. Local authorities will be able to invest in getting them off the ground, but they also need to be able to crowd in private finance.
I can point to a couple of councils in particular. Glasgow City Council is well ahead with heat network plans, and Aberdeen City Council is planning to extend existing heat networks, which are powered by waste-to-energy plants. There are plans across the whole of Scotland. Our strategy will try to bring those all together into a portfolio of investment, because we will need to crowd in private finance in order to get the scale of the development that we need, for exactly the reasons that Sarah Boyack has outlined.
Jackie Dunbar
Scottish National Party
As we move towards electrification to facilitate the decarbonisation of our homes, it is vital that we ensure that clean heat is affordable and accessible. Will the Cabinet secretary join me in calling on the United Kingdom Labour Government to act urgently to lower energy Bills, alleviate Fuel Poverty and facilitate the investment and take-up of clean energy technologies?
Gillian Martin
Scottish National Party
A country such as Scotland should not have Fuel Poverty. The Labour Government pledged to cut Bills by £300, but now those bills are, on average, more than £280 higher than at the time of the General Election.
UK ministers should immediately deliver a social tariff in the form of an automatic and targeted discount on energy bills to address unaffordable bills at source. In tandem, it is critical that we see urgent action on decoupling the cost of gas from the price for electricity that consumers pay. Both those actions will make a material difference in eradicating fuel poverty.
Those critical policies are necessary to support long-term energy affordability, protect consumers from volatile global fossil fuel prices and support investment in new heat network projects.
Paul Sweeney
Labour
I wonder whether the Minister is familiar with the B-Neatpump project, which has been developed by the Malin Group and Star Refrigeration in Glasgow. It would be a massive industrial opportunity for Scotland if we could manufacture at scale those river-based heat pumps, which can be not only used along Scottish coastlines but exported around the world. If the Cabinet secretary observes that the pricing signal is correct, will she encourage that kind of manufacturing opportunity in Scotland as best she can?
Gillian Martin
Scottish National Party
Absolutely. A number of projects are transferring heat from rivers into heat for homes. Paul Sweeney makes a very good point that, where we are building out heat networks, we should do as much as possible of the manufacturing for them in Scotland.
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