FAQs

The London Strategic Heat Main is the UK’s first heat transmission network. It is a pipeline network that transports waste heat from a heat source to a local distribution network.

Similar to the motorway network, the London Strategic Heat Main will move large amounts of heat quickly, over a long distance. The local heat distribution networks act as the local road network, connecting heat directly to homes and businesses. Heat distribution networks generally used smaller pipes and are concentrated over a much smaller geographic area.  

The London SHM will start at the Riverside Campus in Belvedere, within the London Borough of Bexley, capturing surplus heat from Cory’s energy from waste (EfW) facilities as its anchor heat source. From there, it will travel westwards with the Transmission Trunk Main passing through Royal Borough of Greenwich, and the London Boroughs of Lewisham, Southwark, Lambeth, City of London, and City of Westminster. Transmission Branches are currently being considered into the London Boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Tower Hamlets, and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 

The London Strategic Heat Main will be able to transport heat through to areas of high heat demand in London, supplying local distribution networks along the way. We are currently developing the route alignment of the London Strategic Heat Main and the location of supporting infrastructure.

The London Strategic Heat Main has the potential to enable heat supply equivalent to the demand of 650,000 homes; representing about 18% of London’s existing housing stock. The London Strategic Heat Main will help families and businesses to access reliable, affordable low-carbon heating while supporting local growth.   

The anchor supply of heat is a byproduct of the waste management process at Cory’s Riverside campus facilities in Belvedere, Bexley. Here, the two EfW facilities represent around 50% of the residual waste management capacity in London. Currently, most of the resulting heat is released into the atmosphere.

In 2025 a waste heat study, commissioned by the GLA and London Councils and completed by Buro Happold, identified Cory’s Riverside campus as the largest source of high-grade waste heat in Greater London.

The pipeline will capture and repurpose this heat without requiring any additional residual waste to be burned.

The London Strategic Heat Main has been designed to enable other heat sources to supply heat. For example, the Crossness Waste Water Treatment plant, immediately adjacent to the Cory Riverside campus, was identified in the GLA Waste Heat Study as another waste heat source. Providing additional heat sources for the heat main will mean more homes and businesses can benefit into the future.

The London Strategic Heat Main aims to provide an alternative to gas heating that will be lower cost whilst protecting consumers from the price volatility of international fossil fuel markets. By using locally produced energy from London's waste, the pipeline will help to ensure that energy prices remain stable and affordable over the long term.

Our project presents the opportunity to provide heat into a district heating network that can supply your home or business with reliable, resilient, low-carbon heat.  It will have the capacity to provide heat equivalent to the demand from 650,000 homes; representing about 18% of London’s existing housing stock.  

We will work hard to reduce potential temporary negative impacts wherever practicable.

There will be temporary disruption to some residential roads and public highways as the pipework and above ground infrastructure is installed. To minimise this, the pipeline network is being built using micro-tunnelling machines, removing the need to dig open trenches along the entire route.

Maintenance and Access Points (MAP) will be constructed along the route to support the tunnelling process and future operation. The MAP will comprise shafts located along and adjacent to existing roads. This means there will be construction activity at these points while work is underway and local traffic management to minimise and manage disruption to the highway network.

Cory will utilise advanced micro-tunnelling techniques to build up to two pipes. This technique will minimise surface impact.  

The route of the London Strategic Heat Main is currently being finalised. However, we are looking to follow the public highway where practicable. The tunnels will be placed at a depth that will pass safely beneath foundations and avoid existing infrastructure like the London Underground. Structural considerations and protections for utilities will be examined as part of the consenting process.

Development of the London Strategic Heat Main is currently promoted by Cory Environmental Holdings Ltd. We are working with heat network development partners and local and national government on the optimal long term funding structure.

By capturing heat that is currently released into the atmosphere, the project turns a wasted resource into clean energy, supporting London’s goal of reaching net zero. This displaces the need to burn gas within buildings, which generated carbon and NOx. By avoiding the need for heat pumps, it also means electricity supply can be focussed elsewhere.

Cory is committed to providing multiple opportunities to engage during the consenting process.

Public consultation is a key part of developing nationally significant projects, and feedback received helps inform the proposals that are submitted as part our Development Consent Order (DCO) Application. We will host events in-person and online where you can submit formal feedback and speak to our project team.

Outside of consultation periods, you are welcome to get in touch with the project team. Our contact details can be found here.

The project is in the early design phase and Cory is currently preparing a Development Consent Order (DCO) application. Before construction can begin, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero will make the final decision on whether to grant development consent.

Upon completion of construction, we expect heat to be supplied in London from the early to mid 2030s.