---
title: "T2723 - Belfast City Council District Heating Network Project"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-060db0"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-060db0"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-060db0.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-060db0.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "BELFAST CITY COUNCIL"
published: "2026-01-23"
---

# T2723 - Belfast City Council District Heating Network Project

Buyer: BELFAST CITY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-060db0

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## Summary

Belfast City Council is currently in the planning stage for its District Heating Network Project, a landmark initiative aiming to develop Northern Ireland's first city-centre low-carbon district heat network. This procurement exercise falls under the public utilities, district heating, and construction work industry categories, and is located in Belfast, UK. The initial engagement phase invites expressions of interest from potential lead developers, with a deadline for engagement set for 13th February 2026. This project, associated with legal basis UKPGA 2023/54, is supported by Innovate UK funding and is structured as a future concession contract, with the anticipated contract period starting in 2027. Interested parties are encouraged to request a detailed project prospectus by contacting the Council's Climate Team.

The Belfast City Council District Heating Network Project represents a significant opportunity for businesses specialising in public utilities, district heating, construction, and low-carbon technologies. The project encourages collaboration with lead developers, developer-led teams, or consortia experienced in development, delivery, operation, and investment in heating networks. Given the Council's focus on innovation in reducing user tariffs, firms with a strong track record in innovative heat network solutions are particularly well-suited to contribute. This procurement presents a long-term growth opportunity for participating companies, with the chance to influence the future procurement strategy and showcase cutting-edge solutions in the burgeoning green energy sector.

## Notice

Belfast City Council is progressing Northern Ireland's first city-centre low-carbon, district heat network. The climate team was set up five years ago, to build partnerships across the city to deliver climate initiatives beyond the Council estate. Early development of the heat network has been underway for 18 months, supported by Innovate UK funding and the climate team's internal budget. The Council is now seeking engagement with heat network developers, developer-led teams, or consortia with strong experience of development, delivery, operation and investment. The Council is conducting this pre-market engagement exercise to engage with potential lead developers to provide such organisations with some preliminary information about the procurement opportunity. It is anticipated that there will be subsequent, more detailed pre-market engagement exercises prior to the formal launch of any competitive process. The Council would also like to use this opportunity to test market capability, appetite for innovation and refine the future procurement and delivery strategy for this important project. A key theme for the project is drawing on innovative approaches to lowering the heat tariff for users. To support this PME exercise we have developed a more detailed PME project prospectus document setting out more detail about the project and further engagement plans with interested lead developers. To request a copy of this prospectus please email cps@belfastcity.gov.uk before the 'Engagement Deadline' i.e. 13th February 2026.

### Planning Information

To support this PME exercise we have developed a more detailed PME project prospectus document setting out more detail about the project and further engagement plans with interested lead developers.
To request a copy of this prospectus please email cps@belfastcity.gov.uk before the 'Engagement Deadline' i.e. 13th February 2026.
Upon receipt of the prospectus document developers will be asked to re-confirm their interest in continuing to participate in the PME exercise and attending further meetings and workshops (details set out in the prospectus document).
Given time constraints, the Council may not be able to offer meetings to all interested lead developers. As such, the Council will likely only offer meetings to potential lead developers who the Council believes can support it in formulating its final procurement strategy.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/006338-2026 |
| Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Jan 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 1 Jan 2027 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 30 Sep 2027 - 30 Sep 2067 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planning |
| Lots status | Planning |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | BELFAST CITY COUNCIL |
| Locality | BELFAST |
| Post town | Northern Ireland |
| Postcode | BT2 8DJ |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| ITL 1 | TLN Northern Ireland |
| ITL 2 | TLN0 Northern Ireland |
| ITL 3 | TLN06 Belfast |
| Local authority | Belfast |
| Electoral ward | Central |
| Westminster constituency | Belfast South and Mid Down |
| Delivery location | TLN06 Belfast |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 09 - Petroleum products, fuel, electricity and other sources of energy
- 45 - Construction work
- 65 - Public utilities

### Codes

- 09323000 - District heating
- 45000000 - Construction work
- 65000000 - Public utilities

## Release History

- 23 Jan 2026 at 16:07 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/006338-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/006338-2026
  23rd January 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-060db0. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-060db0.json.