The Peterborough Accelerated Net Zero (PANZ) project is helping local authorities move beyond ambition and into delivery—turning Net Zero plans into practical, investable, community‑focused action. By building tools, frameworks, and business models that can be replicated across the UK, PANZ is equipping local authorities with a practical way to design tailored Net Zero initiatives and delivery plans that reflect the social, demographic, and economic makeup of the communities they serve. Helping them to enable and accelerate decarbonisation projects.

The challenge

Local authorities often face barriers in delivering net zero projects including limited resources and technical expertise, complex financing and risk profiles, community trust and engagement challenges, and difficulty in scaling solutions beyond pilot projects.

When it comes to decarbonising homes rural, off-gas communities face unique difficulties including:

• Cost barriers: High installation and operational costs make heat pumps less accessible for households compared to traditional heating options.
• Consumer trust and awareness: Residents often lack knowledge or confidence in the benefits and reliability of heat pump technology, leading to low adoption rates.
• Supply chain limitations: Limited availability of heat pumps and skilled installers restricts deployment at scale.
• Infrastructure constraints: Local electricity networks in rural areas may lack the capacity to support widespread adoption of heat pumps.
• Business model inefficiencies: Traditional heating system models do not effectively address the unique needs of rural areas, requiring innovative and tailored approaches to make heat pumps viable.

These challenges are compounded by the urgent need to decarbonise energy systems to meet climate goals, making innovative solutions critical for success. The PANZ project aims to tackle these barriers head-on by leveraging cutting-edge digital tools, community engagement frameworks, and new replicable business models to enable and accelerate the energy transition.

The innovation

Having secured £2.75m from Innovate UK as part of the Net Zero Living Pathfinder Demonstrator programme. PANZ brings together a consortium of expert partners to develop innovative, scalable, and replicable solutions to decarbonisation challenges. The project will create a comprehensive platform that integrates technical, social, demographic, and economic data to develop effective net zero plans. These plans will include customized financial strategies, engagement activities, and training to encourage adoption of net zero technologies. Building on Peterborough’s pioneering Local Area Energy Plan, the project will further tailor energy plans to the specific needs of the community.

Led by Peterborough City Council, the PANZ consortium includes Energy Systems Catapult, Cambridgeshire County Council, Nordic Energy, edenseven and Peterborough Environment City Trust (PECT). Energy Systems Catapult is bringing its expertise in consumer research, business model innovation, and commercialisation to the consortium. We are addressing barriers to heat pump uptake and district heating expansion by:

• Designing new business models for rural heat pumps that overcome trust, supply chain, and affordability barriers.
• Developing delivery models for small-scale district energy networks that complement DESNZ heat network zones and reflect local needs and priorities.
• Engaging investors to explore financing mechanisms and reduce risk.
• Rigorously testing business models with local and national residents to embed customer needs in service design and maximise uptake.
• Ensuring solutions are replicable, scalable, and embedded in council decision‑making.

Expected impact

• Through its blueprints and frameworks for deployment, the PANZ tool enables local authorities to accelerate their journeys to net zero.
• By embedding delivery into council decision-making, PANZ is creating demand for skilled installers, engineers, and planners, strengthening local supply chains, and attracting investment into infrastructure
• Implementing the novel business models increases access to low-carbon heating solutions, including in hard to decarbonisation areas.