EWS | DIGEST IN BRIEF Grants for heat pumps jump to 7,500 The government has increased the grants available under its Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) for installing heat pumps to 7,500. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed last month that it is taking forward Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks pledge made in his 10 Downing Street net zero speech in September to increase the size of BUS grants by 50%. The government said the grants and additional discounts offered by energy suppliers meant the typical cost of buying and installing an air source pump could now be less than the 2,500-3,000 sum for a new gas boiler. Construction output growth sluggish Quarterly construction output increased by just 0.1% in the third quarter of this year, according to new official figures. There was a 0.4% increase in construction output in September, according to the Office for National Statistics. After two months of falls, this increase helped output to record growth of 0.1% in the three months from July to September. The increase in September came solely from a growth in repair and maintenance (2.1%), partially offsetting a 0.8% decrease in new work over the month. The annual rate of construction output price growth was 3.9% in the 12 months to September 2023. This was a slowdown from the record annual price growth recorded in May 2022 (10.4%). Delayed projects to lose place in Grid queue New rules aim to speed up connections for ready to go projects The energy regulator has unveiled tough new rules to speed up electricity Grid connections for viable generation and storage projects, and prevent zombie schemes from blocking the queue to access the transmission network. Under existing rules, Grid connections are awarded on a rst come, rst served basis. This has led to the Grid being oversubscribed, with a long queue of energy projects that would be sufcient to generate almost 400GW of electricity several times the 65GW that the UK currently needs. The National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) estimates that between 60% and 70% of these projects will fail to materialise, and some energy developers have been offered Grid-connection dates as far away as 2037. The new queue-management milestones will be implemented by the ESO from 27 November 2023, and will be introduced for existing and future Grid-connection agreements. Stalled or speculative projects that are blocking the queue for high-voltage transmission lines will be terminated to enable the fast-tracking of generation and storage that is ready to go. The rst terminations are likely to happen as early as 2024, according to energy regulator Ofgem. Julian Leslie, chief engineer and head of networks at the ESO, said: [We] will be uncompromising in our approach to driving out projects that cannot meet their connection date, paving the way for more viable projects that have a real chance of plugging into the Grid, energising the UK economy. The ESO has recently concluded an amnesty for projects that were willing to give up their place in the queue. Oxford aiming for net zero by 2025 Oxford City Council has unveiled plans to force all new buildings in the city to be zero carbon from 2025. The authoritys draft Local Plan 2040, which was published for consultation on 10 November, includes a requirement for all new homes and businesses in Oxford to be zero carbon from the timetabled adoption date of the blueprint in 2025. This includes a requirement that no fossil fuels be directly used in the operation of new housing or commercial developments for example, no gas for heating or cooking. Under the authoritys existing local plan, new residential developments should be zero carbon from 2030, with interim emission-reduction targets that go beyond those set by the government. The new policy is designed to deliver Oxfords goal of becoming a net zero carbon city by 2040. The council aims to deliver nearly 10,000 new homes by the end of the 2030s. Heat Network Advanced Service Engineer Training with SAV www.sav-systems.com/advanced 8 December 2023 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Dec 23 pp08 News.indd 8 24/11/2023 16:04