Sustainable Infrastructure

The needs of future cities around data, energy and transport are deeply connected with the UK’s Industrial Strategy, which ensures long term government support.

London has been declared the smartest city in the world and the UK continues to be a leader in designing and creating the cities of the future. The UK is a hotbed of innovation that overseas businesses and municipalities can tap into and draw from in the modernisation of their own cities, while the UK itself offers a fertile ground for international investment and expansion.

Five reasons to invest in UK smart cities

  • Access to a growing market
  • Consumers receptive to technology
  • High quality infrastructure 
  • A strong regulatory environment
  • Support for Innovation
  • Benefitting from the supportive environment in the UK

The emergence of more local strategies covering a mix of areas such as the economy, transport, housing and cultural are all placing smart infrastructure and services at their core. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opportunity Highlights for Investors  

The breadth of the opportunity in the UK is enormous and spans industrial and residential new build and retrofit markets, with a key focus on sustainable construction and heating. In Q4 2019, the UK had the second largest construction output in Europe.

  • Heat networks: The UK is developing a range of low-carbon heat sources to replace natural gas fuelled heating, which is the dominant source of heating in the UK today. Domestic electric heat pumps and district heat networks are two of the key technologies the UK is choosing to deploy.
    The heat network project pipeline is valued at £1.2 billion and growing. This represents a significant early investment opportunity across distribution, generation, storage, controls and customer interface.
    Explore Investment Opportunities (HPOs)
  • Heat pumps: The UK plan has set a target to install 600,000 heat pumps each year by 2028. The UK government is developing a strategy to drive the growth of heat pump installation with incentives for businesses and households, to create a market-led push to install cleaner, lower-carbon heating sources, especially in properties off the gas grid.
  • Sustainable design and construction: By adapting circular economy principles, using sustainable materials for construction, and embracing digital technologies, the construction sector can play its part in reaching the UK’s 2050 net zero target.
 

How the UK Can Support Your Growth and Energy Transition  

The UK has expertise in managing and optimising Distributed Energy Resources (DER).

 

Case Study

Integrating Tidal Energy Storage into the European Grid - Energy Systems Catapult and Orbital Marine Power delivering with European partners