Policy information sourced from The London Plan 2021

SI 3 Energy infrastructure

Boroughs and developers should engage at an early stage with relevant energy companies and bodies to establish the future energy and infrastructure requirements arising from large-scale development proposals such as Opportunity Areas, Town Centres, other growth areas or clusters of significant new development.

Energy masterplans should be developed for large-scale development locations (such as those outlined in Part A and other opportunities) which establish the most effective energy supply options. Energy masterplans should identify:

  • major heat loads (including anchor heat loads, with particular reference to sites such as universities, hospitals and social housing)
  • heat loads from existing buildings that can be connected to future phases of a heat network
  • major heat supply plant including opportunities to utilise heat from energy from waste plants
  • secondary heat sources, including both environmental and waste heat
  • opportunities for low and ambient temperature heat networks
  • possible land for energy centres and/or energy storage
  • possible heating and cooling network routes
  • opportunities for futureproofing utility infrastructure networks to minimise the impact from road works
  • infrastructure and land requirements for electricity and gas supplies
  • implementation options for delivering feasible projects, considering issues of procurement, funding and risk, and the role of the public sector
  • opportunities to maximise renewable electricity generation and incorporate demand-side response measures.

Development Plans should:

  • identify the need for, and suitable sites for, any necessary energy infrastructure requirements including energy centres, energy storage and upgrades to existing infrastructure
  • identify existing heating and cooling networks, identify proposed locations for future heating and cooling networks and identify opportunities for expanding and inter-connecting existing networks as well as establishing new networks.

Major development proposals within Heat Network Priority Areas should have a communal low-temperature heating system:

  • the heat source for the communal heating system should be selected in accordance with the following heating hierarchy:
    • connect to local existing or planned heat networks
    • use zero-emission or local secondary heat sources (in conjunction with heat pump, if required)
    • use low-emission combined heat and power (CHP) (only where there is a case for CHP to enable the delivery of an area-wide heat network, meet the development’s electricity demand and provide demand response to the local electricity network)
    • use ultra-low NOx gas boilers
  • CHP and ultra-low NOx gas boiler communal or district heating systems should be designed to ensure that they meet the requirements in Part B of Policy SI 1 Improving air quality
  • where a heat network is planned but not yet in existence the development should be designed to allow for the cost-effective connection at a later date.

Heat networks should achieve good practice design and specification standards for primary, secondary and tertiary systems comparable to those set out in the CIBSE/ADE Code of Practice CP1 or equivalent.

For more information please see The London Plan 2021