The cash was raised thanks to the Clean Growth Fund, Eurazeo’s Smart City fund, and Aviva Ventures. The trio join existing investor Copley Point Capital in the 12 year old company.

Cheltenham-based Rendesco works with property developers including Cala Homes & Telford Homes to install low-carbon, networks based on ground sourced heat.  It also operates networks which supply clean heat and hot water to over 8,000 homes nationwide.

As Britain’s third largest source of CO₂ emissions, ridding carbon from heating buildings is a critical challenge.  Rendesco says it is at its forefront.

Today’s new investment comes Whitehall’s closing earlier this year of final consultations on the Future Homes Standard. Its final measures will underpin the incoming government’s plans to decarbonise home heat, including banning from next January the installation of gas boilers in new homes. Similar legislative measures are also driving decarbonisation across Europe.

The cash will accelerate Rendesco’s growth plans, aimed at providing a low-carbon alternative to gas grids and cutting consumers’ bills.  Part of the money will be directed at higher tech, yielding cleverer, more consumer-focused systems to manage home energy.

The new investment is separate from, but complementary to, Rendesco’s joint venture with Last Mile Heat.  Rendesco’s new build home solutions are owned by Last Mile Heat, enabling house builders to install ground source heat solutions in their developments at a considerably lower cost than with other low-carbon heat sources.  The joint venture has already developed a pipeline of £150m worth of clean heat infrastructure, boosting futureproofed heating of dwellings.

Rendesco’s founder Alastair Murray said: “I am pleased to welcome Clean Growth Fund, Eurazeo & Aviva Ventures as investors in Rendesco.

“This funding means Rendesco is incredibly well capitalised, in parallel to the significant capital available to deploy into capex costs via Last Mile Heat.  Their collective expertise and support will be invaluable as we pursue our ambitious growth plans, rapidly expanding our clean heating solutions to reach millions of homes.”

Susannah McClintock of specialist investors the Clean Growth Fund enthused: “Decarbonising heat is critical to achieving Britain’s Net Zero targets. Rendesco’s heat network solutions provide a cost-effective, efficient route to delivering the low carbon heat required for the transition away from gas to renewables. This investment aligns with our commitment to empower early-stage entrepreneurs to tackle the climate change crisis.”

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Long delayed until next year’s implementation, the new housebuilding norms are designed to tighten up on Britain’s notoriously energy-inefficient homes, including new dwellings delivered in too small quantities by what some observers see as politically well connected volume home builders.

Rendesco’s solution lifts natural clean heat up from boreholes, pumping it into individual new homes or through networks.  Signing a joint venture with Last Mile Infrastructure, one of the UK’s largest independent network owners, is its route to success.

As dwellings and the builders who sell them benefit from cheap heat, the only noticeable difference for occupying householders is a ground source heat pump replacing a carbon-emitting gas boiler.

The ground source of cheap, clean energy can involve either a large central heat pump heating several homes in a single development, or smaller devices fitted to individual homes.

Cheltenham-based Rendesco says its solutions magnify energy efficiencies at scale, typically saving 18 tonnes of CO₂ per property compared to gas boilers, and three tonnes of CO₂ compared to an air-source heat pump.

The supplier says its £150 million target is Britain’s most ambitious yet from a commercial concern, and designed to assist the government’s goal of 600,000 heat pumps operating by 2028, as set out two years ago in its Heat and Buildings Strategy.

Industry observers see that target as woefully compromised by the perceived high cost of installing and running heat pumps, and a serious lack of technicians to instal them.

A meagre 35,000 devices were installed in 2020, as Covid lockdowns bit.

Rendesco claims it already heats 3,000 UK dwellings, with 80 more in construction.

Its new build home solutions are owned by Last Mile Heat, enabling housebuilders – or so the partners claim – to install ground source heat in their constructions at a considerably lower cost than through mainstream channels.

The approach also reduces the installation cost for households and significantly improves the energy efficiency of homes, saving money on energy bills.

The clean heat developer provides heat to its portfolio of more than 3,000 homes across 70 UK networks, and has projects to provide low-carbon heat to over 800 more new build homes.

Last Mile Heat, a joint venture between Rendesco and Last Mile Infrastructure, aims to provide ground source heat infrastructure to residential and commercial property developers across the UK, making clean heat far more accessible.

Around 300,000 new homes are intended by Whitehall for construction each year, as ministers struggle to combat Britain’s growing crisis over homelessness.

Rendesco founder & CEO Alastair Murray commented: “In this funding commitment we are proud to be setting the standard for UK private sector investment in clean heat networks.

“Our pipeline demonstrates the fantastic progress with our Last Mile Heat joint venture and means we can offer our clean heat solutions to even more housebuilders. The UK’s clean heat market needs greater innovation – and quickly – if we are to effectively decarbonise the country’s homes and buildings.

For Last Mile, CEO Mike Pearce responded: “As an already established and trusted utility infrastructure partner of housebuilders across Great Britain, we are delighted that Last Mile Heat has put us at the forefront of providing clean heat solutions to the next generation of Britain’s homes.

“The UK ground source heat connections market is growing rapidly with ground source heat being a highly sustainable and affordable solution for new build projects, for developers and residents alike.”

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