District Heating Sector Consultation - Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024

The aim of this consultation is to gather stakeholder feedback on the proposed Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024, which will introduce a regulatory and legislative framework for district heating in Ireland.

District Heating utilises a centralised heat source to heat multiple buildings across a potentially wide geographical area. This means that multiple types of centralised heat sources can be used to heat up to thousands of buildings across an entire, village, town or city. One major advantage of District Heating is that utilising a renewable or waste heat source can help decarbonise an entire district. It also offers a unique opportunity to decarbonise and modernise heating in public buildings and heritage buildings that are not suited to deep retrofit.

Climate Action Plan 2021 (CAP 2021) contained a range of actions to support the expansion of district heating in the State. The District Heating Steering Group was established under CAP 2021 to ensure structured development of district heating.

In July 2023, government approved publication of the District Heating Steering Group Report. The report provided a suite of recommendations establishing a foundation for the development of district heating in Ireland. In approving that report, Government noted the need to develop a regulatory system for district heating to ensure consumer protection and a vibrant district heating sector and approved the drafting of appropriate legislation to support the expansion of district heating by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment.

On 30 October 2024, government approved the General Scheme of the Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. The development of this legislation will facilitate the growth of an efficient, low carbon district heating sector in Ireland, which will contribute towards the decarbonisation of heat and assist in meeting national and international targets. We are continuing to develop the Heat Bill 2024 in order to deliver our objectives in this area.

The purpose of this survey is to assess the potential impacts that the bill may have on micro, small and medium sized businesses and to identify, where possible, mitigating measures aimed at minimising negative impacts.

The closing date for submissions is 5.30pm on Thursday, 31 July 2025

Anyone wishing to make a submission should complete the online survey located on the EUSurvey website.

If you cannot access the survey for any reason, please contact the team by email at DistrictHeating@dcee.gov.ie

We are committed to engaging with stakeholders in a clear, open and transparent manner. Any person or organisation can make a submission in relation to this consultation. We will consider all submissions and feedback in advance of finalising the proposed Heat Bill.

Your response to this consultation is subject to:

• the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI)
• the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007-2018 (AIE)
• the Data Protection Act 2018

Publishing of responses

We intend to publish the contents of all submissions received to our consultations on our website. We will redact (remove) personal data before publication.

Please indicate any sensitive information

In responding to this consultation, clearly indicate where your response contains any information which you would not wish to be released under FOI, AIE or otherwise published. This can include:

• personal information
• commercially sensitive information
• confidential information

Read our Data Privacy Notice

We would like to draw your attention to our Data Privacy Notice which explains:

• how and when we collect personal data
• why we do so
• how we treat this information
• your rights in relation to the collection of personal information
• how you can exercise those rights