Scottish-Danish District Heating Mentoring Programme

The Scottish Government in collaboration with the Danish Board of District Heating (DBDH), the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) and the Royal Danish Embassy in London have launched a new 12-month District Heating Mentoring Programme for 2023/24. This programme will bring together senior members from Danish district heating companies with up to 20 Scottish local authorities, identified through a previous application process, to share knowledge and learnings about district heating.

Following a successful launch event on 28 September 2023, the programme will now match up the 20 registered local authorities, with suitable Danish mentors. Through a series of engagements, these local authorities will be equipped to deliver district heating projects, at pace, with participants benefiting from:

• Capacity building through knowledge and experience sharing.
• Confidence building in developing and delivering district heating.
• Tailored mentoring relationships depending on specific needs.
• Bespoke heat network delivery advice, including for stakeholder engagement, to enhance regional relationships and unlock delivery options.
• Expertise on all other aspects of district heating development, from planning and design, to metering and KPIs.

Last year’s programme received positive feedback from the participating local authorities across Scotland, and we are expecting an even more successful larger-scale programme to be run in 2023/24.

“As we progress on our route to net-zero, we expect district heating networks to play a vital role. In developing and improving our existing network, we have found the mentorship programme to be an incredible resource, with a mentor who is always available to assist with valuable knowledge and has an understanding of the Scottish perspective on district heating. The comprehensive knowledge of Danish mentors has allowed us to overcome and avoid potential issues and enabled us to implement a district heating network as efficiently as possible, with very little prior experience.”

Stirling Council, 2022/23 Mentoring Programme

Please note that applications are now closed for this year’s Mentoring Programme. However, the Heat Network Support Unit (HNSU) will be hosting additional capacity building workshops starting in autumn 2023.

If you are interested in learning more about the workshops or how the HNSU can support heat network development, please contact HeatNetworkSupport@gov.scot