Three communities are set to benefit from £30m of funding to deliver low carbon heat, the Government has announced.

Projects in Hull and Peterborough are the first to secure funding through the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF), a £288m Government funding scheme launched in March this year.

Heat networks offer carbon emissions savings by supplying heat to buildings from a central source, avoiding the need for households and workplaces to rely on energy-intensive heating solutions, such as gas boilers.

Hull and Peterborough will receive more than £27m to support initiatives that deliver clean heating to households, offices, commercial and public buildings.

Peterborough Integrated Renewables Infrastructure will receive £14.406 for a scheme that will use the burning of non-recycled household waste to generate electricity and heating.

In Hull, £12.957m has been awarded through the GHNF towards a heat network that will reduce carbon emissions by more than 2,000 tonnes per year, delivering an additional 22GWH of electricity to 46 public and private sector customers

Wigan will receive more than £2.6m through one of the final awards from the £320m Heat Networks Investment Project, which was succeeded by the GHNF this year after running since 2018.

The council will use the funding to develop a ground source heat pump system, which will provide heating and hot water to a new £190m redevelopment project in the town centre.

Energy minister Lord Callanan said: ‘It’s vital that we invest in cutting edge technologies, like heat networks, that move us away from heating our homes and businesses with carbon-emitting fossil fuels.

‘I’m delighted to see that, through the Green Heat Network Fund, ground-breaking projects will be developed at pace to the benefit of communities, moving us away from soaring energy bills and delivering cheaper, greener energy.’