Decarbonising heat is one of the biggest challenges in Great Britain’s journey to net zero. Achieving it requires not only new technologies, but new ways of planning and coordinating energy infrastructure. Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) represent the latest attempt to create that coordination at a regional scale.
RESPs are widely seen to be a first-in-a-kind development, representing a major change in how energy infrastructure is organised. They are being constructed in real time, with unresolved questions about alignment across scales and about who shapes their direction, more like assembling a plane mid-flight than following a finished blueprint.
This project investigates how RESPs are being designed and delivered, and what this means for heat decarbonisation. It asks three core questions:
The research combines institutional analysis, comparative case studies in Scotland, Wales and South West England, and interviews and workshops with policymakers, network operators, local authorities, industry and community groups.
By analysing RESPs as a new governing process, not just a technical plan, the project will identify practical ways to strengthen coordination across scales, improve knowledge integration, and support more inclusive and effective heat planning.