The Government has announced a £530 million investment to decarbonise schools, hospitals and other public buildings by installing low-carbon heating and energy-saving measures.
It has also pledged a further £27.5 million to help support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and carbon emissions.
It’s estimated that the new projects receiving the funding will help to save taxpayers £650 million a year to 2037, as well as accelerate progress to net zero.
Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance Lord Callanan said: “We want to make sure buildings of all shapes and sizes are supported to deliver net zero”.
“By allocating over £557 million today, we are standing steadfast behind our public sector and local businesses, providing the help they need to make the switch to cleaner, homegrown energy.”
He said the measures to decarbonise public buildings and businesses will help cut bills in the long term, as well as ensure continued emission cuts, which have already halved since 1990.
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More than 1,000 projects have received funding to upgrade buildings through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme since 2020.
This phase includes a £21 million award to Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust to install new heat pumps, wall, loft and roof insulation, double glazing and LED lighting in three buildings.
Loughborough University has received more than £2 million to switch out gas-fired boilers with more efficient, cleaner heat pumps for its Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Meanwhile, Surrey County Council has more than £5 million to cut emissions across 19 sites including libraries, nursing homes, community centres, schools and its headquarters in Reigate.
The £27.5 million from the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to support businesses with high energy use includes money for new projects, including Pilkington UK relocating its glass manufacturing line to a single facility in St Helens, which will produce glass from one, upgraded furnace rather than two.
The government has committed to spend more than £12 billion on energy efficiency by 2028 and as part of its efforts to decarbonise previously announced £230 million of funding for public sector organisations last October and £185 million for the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.
