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£635 Million Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Funding Phase 3b

The latest phase (Phase 3b) of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has been announced this week, committing £635 million in funding for a range of energy efficiency measures and clean technologies across the public sector.

The next stage of the ambitious project to reduce emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037, in total the Decarbonisation Scheme will see £2.5 billion invested in efforts to reduce emissions.

While the scheme came about as a way to decarbonise the public sector, it also demonstrates the importance of energy efficiency when it comes to tackling rising energy bills. With the upgrades expected from the scheme, public sector organisations, and ultimately taxpayers, will see annual savings of as much as £650 million annually.

Technologies that qualify for the funding fall into four broad categories. The first two cover technologies that directly save on carbon emissions: low carbon heating such as heat pumps or solar thermal, and other measures that directly reduce carbon such as mechanical heat recovery or building fabric upgrades.

In addition, the scheme also covers indirect carbon savings, primarily those that save on grid electricity usage such as solar PV or energy efficiency measures. Finally, it also covers measures that while they do not save carbon themselves, they facilitate the installation of other measures that do. This includes battery storage, electrical infrastructure upgrades and metering.

BEIS has said that the Decarbonisation Scheme has already supported 734 projects, with the first phase of the scheme supporting some 30,000 jobs in the clean heating and energy efficiency sectors.

The new wave of funding will become available for application in September, and will continue until all the funding has been allocated. For public sector organisations looking to tackle their energy costs and accelerate their progress towards net zero, it is important to move quickly.

Powerstar’s range of technologies are all covered by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Phase 3b, offering improved power resilience and reduced electricity costs while also contributing significantly towards reducing carbon emissions. This includes energy efficiency technologies such as voltage optimisation, which can significantly reduce electricity consumption on a site.

Other technologies, including battery energy storage systems, help to facilitate a range of other clean technologies, maximising the performance of on-site generation such as solar PV as well as allowing high-demand technologies like EV charging to be implemented without disruption. Powerstar has already delivered a range of projects for public sector organisations, including hospitals, museums, local councils and schools.