What was the announcement?
On 18th May 2022 the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (via Salix Finance) announced that the public sector can now bid for Phase 3 of the Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund to develop heat decarbonisation plans for their estates.
The fund is £14million and follows two previous rounds.
What is the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme?
The PSDS was launched in October 2020 to help the public sector develop decarbonisation plans and delivery energy efficiency works. A second round of PSDS was launched in early 2021. It is expected that an announcement on Phase 3 PSDS will follow imminently.
Read our briefing on the PSDS HERE
What is the Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund?
The Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund will provide grants to help all eligible public sector bodies to source specialist and expert advice to identify and develop energy efficiency and low carbon heat upgrade projects for non-domestic buildings.
The focus of the fund is to support organisations who are planning to replace aging heating systems to move these to low carbon alternatives.
How is this different to previous PSDS and LCSF and other Salix funds?
The funding is for funding advice to develop energy strategies and decarbonisation plans for heating systems.
It is not funding for capital works such as LED lighting and Solar PV Panels.
Unlike previous Salix funds such as SEEF the scheme is grant funding not a loan.
Previous PSDS/LCSF applicants can reapply subject to certain restrictions.
What are the timescales?
As usual, application timescales are very tight.
The application portal opens on Wednesday 15 June 2022 at 14:00
Applications are assessed on a first-come-first-served basis. From previous experience the fund will be fully allocated within hours of opening so it will be essential for applications to be prepared and ready for submission in advance of the portal application opening.
What do I do next?
If you would like to discuss your application and how barker can help, please contact us
Barker will also be holding a webinar for interested organisations to explain the scheme and next steps.
WEBINAR – 11:00 Thursday 26th May 2022.
The capacity for the session is limited so please reserve your place today.
Alternatively, Contact us directly if you would like support with your application.
Download the Barker Energy 360 Brochure here