Oldham has been named by a government minister as one of the towns receiving support for a town-centre heat network scheme.

Martin McCluskey, the Minister for Local Energy and Jobs, listed Oldham alongside Sunderland, Stockport and Milton Keynes as he set out the government's approach to heat networks at the ADE Heat Network Conference.

The schemes were among twenty low carbon heat network projects to share more than £200 million in confirmed funding allocations across four Green Heat Network Fund announcements in the past 12 months.

Heat networks pipe heat from a central source to homes and buildings rather than relying on a boiler in each property. McCluskey said that, used in the right places, they offer a lower cost, lower carbon way to heat buildings and cut reliance on imported fossil fuels by using heat recovered locally.

He set out two targets: for heat networks to meet 7% of heat demand in England over the next ten years, which would double the present level, and for them to supply a fifth of all heat across England by 2050.

The minister acknowledged that shifts in policy over recent years had left the industry uncertain about what to plan for, and said the government intended to change that.

Part of that is regulation. Ofgem took on the role of regulator at the start of this year and can now step in where an operator charges unfair prices or provides a poor service, protections that will apply to half a million heat network consumers for the first time. Customers who lose supply can also take complaints to the Energy Ombudsman. McCluskey gave the example of a supplier that had inflated tariffs to recover historic losses and was made to correct bills, apologise and offer a goodwill credit.

He said a minority of operators had damaged public confidence in the technology, and that minimum technical standards were needed. The government consulted on mandating those standards earlier this year and will say more in the coming months. Where a network has failed, he added, the answer is a better performing network rather than a return to gas boilers.

On funding, he said heat networks form a central part of the Warm Homes Plan and that the government is working with the National Wealth Fund to explore further support, and is weighing options including a Regulated Asset Base model to bring in long-term private investment.

Almost £35m of capital funding has been allocated through the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme across 65 projects, which the minister said will affect more than 10,000 residents who depend on heat networks.

Under the zoning programme, at least 10 English towns and cities will receive government backing to set up heat network zones once the Heat Network Zoning Regulations come into force, with others to follow. The government has also said it will devolve the Warm Homes Plan over the coming years, giving local leaders more say over investment in homes and energy.