This document provides guidance on the commercial and strategic elements of a heat network project to support the completion of a project business case.

The guidance is intended for local authorities and heat network developers to support their investigations and enable progression from feasibility stage through to business case delivery. The guidance has been drafted with reference to policy, legislation, and regulation in England and Wales; however much of the guidance is likely also to be relevant to projects in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The guidance specifically supports the HMT Green Book Five Cases Business Model (the Five Cases Model), and the derived DBEIS Business Case Template (DBEIS BCT) that follows this structure, but will also be applicable in other instances. The Five Cases Model (and similarly the DBEIS BCT) considers the viability of the project from five perspectives:

• Strategic
• Economic
• Commercial
• Financial
• Management

Although all five elements are relevant, this guide particularly focuses on the strategic and commercial cases. Separate guidance on other aspects of the business case for heat networks is provided in:

• Guidance on Economic and Financial Case for Heat Network Detailed Project Development Resource; and
• Guidance on Powers, Public Procurement, and State Aid for Heat Network Detailed Project Development Resource.