NEWS COPY
A UK council has received funding to help local schools save more than £5.9 million on their energy bills.
Nottinghamshire County Council is one of many council’s across the UK to develop a carbon management plan and commit to reducing carbon emissions across their estate and operations.
These plans build on the council’s pioneering work for the use of wood fuel, heating more than 60 sites - many of them schools - with boilers using wood pellets.
The adoption of energy efficiency measures form part of the council’s comprehensive management service for local schools in the area.
Nottinghamshire has always taken a proactive approach to help schools reduce their carbon emissions and energy bills through investment in low-carbon technologies.
In 2005, the Council used an interest-free loan from Salix Finance to set up its Recycling Fund, a long-term ring-fenced fund held by the public sector body, where financial savings are reinvested by the council year-on-year to fund further energy efficiency projects.
The original investment of a £750,000 interest-free loan from Salix (match-funded 50:50 by the council) has helped local schools save an estimated amount of £950,000 and 4,440 tonnes of carbon annually.
From the adoption of LED lighting upgrades to boiler replacements, the Council has supported energy efficient projects in 78 schools across the region.
Any financial savings from a reduction in energy bills are reinvested year-on-year to fund future green projects.
Nottinghamshire is a signatory to the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change.
This declaration commits the council to tackling the causes and effects of climate change and encourages all sectors within their local community to take the opportunity to adapt to the impacts of the climate, reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and make public their commitment to action.
For more than a decade, Nottinghamshire County Council has supported more than £4m of energy reduction projects due to the initial interest-free loan of £750,000 from Salix Finance.
One example of the work undertaken by the council is Mornington Primary School, which utilised £13,545 of Salix funding to replace inefficient lighting, reducing their energy bills by around £2,625 and saving approximately 10.5 tonnes of carbon a year.
Working with Salix, Nottinghamshire County Council has implemented a number of renewable heat and on-site power installations across multiple school estates, including over 10MW of renewable heat (generated from wood pellet boilers) and over 1MW of roof-mounted solar panels.
Collectively, these projects are estimated to save the schools more than £460,000 and 2,700 tonnes of carbon each year.
Over the lifetime of these technologies, this leads to a substantial saving of more than £5.9 million on their energy bills.
Phil Keynes, team manager, Energy & Carbon Management at Nottinghamshire County Council said: “Working with Salix has enabled the Council to make huge improvements to the energy performance of its buildings and street lighting to the benefit of local schools, services, residents and the environment.
"It has also enabled easy access to excellent management information on the performance and achievements of our Recycling Fund investments.”
Hayley Veenhoven, senior programme manager at Salix, said: ”We are proud to have built a long-term relationship with Nottinghamshire County Council over several years, supporting them in meeting their carbon reduction targets.
"As well as the substantial financial and environmental benefits the projects have enabled, multiple schools are now able to provide a more comfortable learning and working environment for pupils and staff.”
Funded by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Salix has been working with local authorities in England for more than 10 years, investing more than £360 million in energy efficiency projects and saving councils over £71 million per year.
In Numbers:
-Recycling Fund Size: £1,500,000
-Annual Savings: £950,045
-Lifetime Savings: £14,662,957
-Total Project value: £4,038,257
-Annual CO2e: 4,440 tonnes
-Average Project Payback: 5.2 years
-Salix Contribution: £750,000
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