In Sweden, most residential heating and hot water comes from heating networks – helping to pool resources and innovation

District heating is sometimes talked about like some kind of unattainable utopia, but in the Swedish capital these low-carbon heating networks are not special.

In fact, district heat is so run-of-the-mill that many Stockholmers do not know that they have it, said Fredrik Persson, as he showed the Guardian around Stockholm Exergi’s pioneering power station in Norra Djurgårdsstaden, a former port and industrial area.