The PipeCo – a new business model for district heating investments
Date: 25/04/2016The UK Government has an ambitious £2 billion investment plan for district heating. An allocated £300 million will assist this plan, but large scale third-party finance is needed to make it come true. The PipeCo is a new business model that might be the answer to this need.
The Danish Embassy in London and the Carbon Trust have been working together to build on Scandinavian best practice and UK expertise to propose an investment vehicle which can bring together low-cost, long-term debt financing for long-life heat network assets – the PipeCo.
This new business model is made to answer the need of third-party financing created by the ambitious £2 billion plan for new investments in district heating in the UK. After the initial launch of this business model in an article in Utility Week on 26 February, work has been carried out with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and leading industry providers to help make the PipeCo a reality.
On 21 April at an event hosted by the Danish Embassy in London, stakeholders were invited to hear an update on how the initial concept has developed since launch as well as given the opportunity to hear the next steps for testing it in the market.
The Embassy could welcome a large and diverse audience from the heat networks industry, local authorities as well as legal and financial sectors to hear more about the recent and current developments and engage in workshop discussions.