Commercial heat pumps in Cardiff: costs, grants and local rules

Cardiff Heat Network: Cardiff Bay and Butetown

Cardiff Heat Network Ltd is a company wholly owned by Cardiff Council. It supplies heat from the Viridor Trident Park Energy Recovery Facility, taking steam that is produced as a by-product when non-recyclable waste is used to generate electricity, and carrying it through insulated pipes from an energy centre near Trident Park along Hemmingway Road, with branches towards the Wales Millennium Centre and the Senedd and through Butetown to Callaghan Square. The council announced it operational on 18 November 2025, with Cardiff and Vale College as the first customer and the Wales Millennium Centre, the Senedd, Tŷ Hywel, Tresillian House, Butetown Hub, Butetown Community Centre and Scott Harbour flats to follow. It was supported by a UK Government Heat Networks Investment Project grant and a Welsh Government loan.

The important point for a business is what this is and is not. It is a waste-heat network, so connecting means buying heat rather than owning a heat pump. If your premises are in Cardiff Bay or Butetown near that route, ask Cardiff Heat Network whether a connection is possible. Further from the route, a building-level system is the realistic alternative: see the air-source guide or the heat networks and ambient loops guide for shared loops.

Wales, not England: what changes

Cardiff is in Wales, and several rules this site describes for England work differently here.

• Boiler Upgrade Scheme. The scheme applies in England and Wales. GOV.UK says the grant can be used to replace a heating system in a building used for your business, for heat pumps of 45 kW thermal or less for a single heat pump (70 kW thermal for a multi-unit system). That includes small non-domestic buildings in Cardiff.
• Planning. Wales has its own permitted development order. Its non-domestic rules (Part 43, Classes C and D) cover ground and water source heat pumps up to 45 kW thermal, but there is no non-domestic air source class, so a commercial air source heat pump in Cardiff needs planning permission from Cardiff Council. In a conservation area the council will also weigh how visible the plant is, and a listed building needs listed building consent as well (Cadw is the heritage body in Wales). Expect a noise assessment to be requested; see commercial heat pump noise and planning for the general position.
• Public-sector and loan routes. The English Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is closed. Welsh public-sector Salix loans, through the Wales Funding Programme, carry a fixed 2.45% rather than 0%.
• Business loans. The Development Bank of Wales Green Business Loan Scheme lends to Welsh businesses that have traded for two years or more and names heat pumps among the measures it funds. It is a loan, not a grant.
• Closed Welsh grants. Ynni Cymru 2026/27 closed on 21 May 2026 with no further round announced, and the Ymestyn window has passed; neither is open to a Cardiff business now.
• Heat networks. The Green Heat Network Fund covers England and Wales, but is for networks and not individual buildings, and the most recent round found closed on 25 September 2026; check GOV.UK for the next round.

Heat pumps in Wales: the national picture

Welsh Government’s first combined Energy Generation and Use in Wales report (August 2026) puts the number of heat pumps in Wales at about 31,000, including a record 8,700 installed in 2024, against a target of 580,000 by 2035. That is about 5% of the target, so installer capacity and supply chains are still growing. The same report says renewable generation equalled 55% of Welsh electricity consumption in 2024, which matters for the carbon case of an electric heat pump in Cardiff. None of this is a grant; it is context for planning a project and for talking to installers.

The council’s One Planet target

Cardiff Council’s One Planet Cardiff strategy was approved by its Cabinet in October 2021. Its two goals are a carbon-neutral council by 2030 and a pathway, developed with partners, to a carbon-neutral city by 2030. The council has said the district heating scheme is meant to supply large commercial and public buildings and new developments in Cardiff Bay. The strategy is a statement of ambition, not a funding offer for private businesses. For advice, Business Wales offers decarbonisation advice to Welsh businesses through its helpline, on 03000 6 03000. We have not verified any grant that is open to private businesses in Cardiff right now.

The electricity network

National Grid Electricity Distribution holds the South Wales licence area, which includes Cardiff. A heat pump adds a winter electrical load, so ask NGED, directly or through your installer, whether your site’s supply can take it. Do not assume a timescale for any upgrade.

Questions to ask before committing

Because Cardiff Heat Network is new, ask its operator three things: whether your address is within reach of the pipe route, what the heat tariff and contract length would be, and whether an on-site heat pump could sit alongside a connection. Ask Cardiff Council planning whether it expects a noise assessment and whether your site is in a conservation area or near homes. Ask NGED about supply capacity if you are adding a large electrical load. If you rent, ask your landlord for consent. When you gather quotes, ask each installer to state the design heat load, assumed flow temperature and expected seasonal efficiency in writing, to price emitter and electrical works separately, and to explain how any Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant has been applied. Check the installer’s MCS and other credentials on the public registers; the Welsh Government’s Business Wales helpline can also point you to current advice.

Funding and cost

See the grants and funding guide for the national position and tax relief, and the cost guide for published price bands. For comparing a heat pump with a gas boiler on your own tariffs, use the running-cost calculator.