Phase 3c of the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has allocated £611 million to 209 public sector organisations.
Buildings including hospitals, schools, libraries, museums and leisure centres have been identified as the recipients of the funding, which will help them lower their bills and their emissions. The average value of the grants awarded is just over £2.5 million per project.
Launched in 2020, the scheme provides grants to public sector bodies in England for decarbonisation and energy efficiency upgrades. Its overarching aim is to reduce emissions from public sector buildings by at least 50% by 2032 and 75% by 2037, compared to a 2017 baseline.
Across the third phase, £1.8 billion of grant funding is available over the financial years 2022/23 to 2025/26. The scheme is managed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and is delivered by Salix Finance, a DESNZ non-departmental public body. Many of the projects in receipt of funding from previous phases of the scheme are also allocated funding in Phase 3c, reflecting the length of time that the projects will take.
The grant will fund 244 projects this year, including an initiative by South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust, which has been awarded £6,149,168 for three hospital sites. Four buildings at Warwick Hospital will be connected to the onsite heat network, and air source heat pumps will be installed at Leamington Spa and Stratford Hospitals. Solar panels will also be fitted across all sites.
Across the projects financed by the decarbonisation fund, all but four (240) will install at least one air source heat pump. University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded £230,104 to replace gas boilers with air source heat pumps in ten buildings owned by the trust.
Solar PV installations are the third-most common upgrade that public sector buildings will receive, following adding heat pumps and building fabric insulation. One project, awarded £832,984, will see wind turbines and solar panels installed to provide a source of renewable energy for Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust buildings.
The borough of Greenwich in London will use some of its funding for a thermal solar installation, the only body to use the technology in its energy efficiency upgrades.
The next round of funding, Phase 4, was originally confirmed in February 2024, with complete details published in September. Applications for the funding will close at the end of this week (25 November).
The first phase of West Sussex County Council’s decarbonisation works, partly funded with £1.4 million from the scheme, was recently completed. Works included swapping gas boilers for air source heat pumps and installing solar panels, plus window and insulation upgrades across seven libraries, six fire stations and a day centre. One of the libraries now runs entirely on renewable power.
