Our company
1Energy is the leading independent developer of Low-to-Zero Carbon (LZC) heat networks in city centres throughout the UK. Our team members collectively have decades of experience in delivering and operating over 50 separate heat networks. 1Energy has secured £220 million pounds of funding to develop a series of LZC heat network projects across the UK.
Our joint venture
1Energy Group is a joint venture between the founders of 1Energy and Asper Investment Management. Our combined ambition is to contribute significantly to the UK’s net-zero objectives by developing, acquiring, building, and operating low to zero carbon district heating networks across the UK. To deliver on this Asper raised a dedicated UK district heating fund.
1Energy brings significant expertise in heat networks, energy service companies and the broader energy industry to this partnership, while Asper has market-leading expertise in investing in heat networks and other sustainable infrastructure.
To date Asper has invested in more than 100 renewable energy projects across Europe – including district heating, wind, solar and hydro, representing over 1GW of projects with a value in excess of €2.5Bn. Asper is one of Europe’s first energy infrastructure investment managers to have invested in sustainable heat networks. They made their first investments in 2014 and since then have made significant investments in this sector every year across Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, and Ireland, with current commitments of ca €0.5Bn. Through its dedicated fund for UK district heating Asper has plans to invest £220m into heat network projects in the UK over the next 5-10 years, including more than £70 million in the initial phase of the Exeter Energy Network.
Exeter Energy Network
Exeter Energy Network (EEN) is the name of the Low-to-Zero Carbon (LZC) heat network being developed in central Exeter. Businesses and organisations will be able to connect to the EEN to decarbonise their heating, which will result in cleaner air because it will reduce the use of fossil fuels.
Exeter Energy Limited has been established to construct and operate the EEN. The network will deliver renewable heat from a single Energy Centre to the buildings in Exeter through underground pipes.
Exeter Energy Limited is backed by the 1Energy Group.
How we’re funded
The heat network in Exeter will be developed with a mix of private and public funds. Approximately 1/3rd of the investment will be from grant funding through the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF), and 2/3rds from private investment, through our partners Asper Investment Management.
Asper is a specialist sustainable infrastructure investor. It has supported several heat network businesses like the Bradford Energy Network, and the development of heat networks in both Sweden and the Netherlands. It is one of the largest private-sector investors in heat networks in Europe. Asper plans to invest several hundred million pounds into heat network projects in the UK over the next 5-10 years, including more than £70 million into the initial phase of the Exeter Energy Network.
Our Projects
Collectively team members at 1Energy have experience of developing more than 50 heat networks, including the Bristol Heat Network and the Bradford Energy Network.
Large-scale heat networks are planned for Milton Keynes, Bradford, Rotherham and Exeter.
Bradford – a case study
1Energy has secured £20m of Green Heat Network Funding to construct and operate the Bradford Energy Network (BEN) – a heat network underway in Bradford. The BEN will initially connect to around 30 buildings across public and private sectors, with ambitions to grow steadily from this base.
Construction began in 2023 with a target of becoming fully operational in 2025.
National and Local Decarbonisation
In 2019 the UK Government set ambitious statutory targets for the country to achieve net zero carbon by 2050 – a policy position that will currently see the UK lead the world in the transition to low carbon energy sources.
A key part of the Government’s net zero carbon policy is the decarbonisation of heat. For businesses in Exeter and across the country who use gas to create heat, this will mean moving from the current reliance on gas boilers, to lower carbon or net-zero forms of heating over the coming years.
Exeter City Council is at the forefront of national ambitions to shift to net zero and has set an ambitious goal of the city to be net-zero by 2030 – 20 years ahead of the national target. Connection of public sector buildings to district heating networks are identified in the Net Zero Exeter 2030 Plan as one way to help achieve this target.
Exeter Energy Network
Exeter Energy Network (EEN) is a Low-to-Zero Carbon (LZC) district heating network being developed in central Exeter, allowing businesses and organisations which connect to the EEN to decarbonise their heating, along with delivering a number of other benefits for the city.
Exeter Energy Limited has been established to construct and operate the EEN – a district heat network that will deliver renewable heat from a single Energy Centre to the buildings in and around the centre of Exeter through large underground pipes.
Exeter Energy Limited is backed by 1Energy Group, a team of experts in district heating networks with collective experience of delivering and operating over 45 district heating projects in the UK over the last 15 years.
Alongside this 1Energy has mobilised several hundred million pounds of funding to build a series of LZC district energy projects across the UK, of which Exeter is the largest. This experience and funding makes 1Energy one of the leading teams in LZC district heating in the UK.
The Exeter Energy Network will offer customers in Exeter the most cost-effective LZC heating solution currently available to achieve net zero. Construction of the district heating network is due to begin in 2024.
The Exeter Energy Network will have the largest high temperature Water Source Heat Pumps anywhere in the UK, however, elsewhere in Europe successful similar schemes have been running for over a decade.
