The Green Deal Booster

Will the Green Deal add £100 Million Boost for Commercial Energy Efforts – Ahead of it’s expected launch at the end of 2012, the UK government has announced it has assigned £100m for investment in commercial energy efficiency projects.  The body set up to lay the foundations for the bank, UK Green Investments (UKGI) has today been revealed to have earmarked the entirety of the £100m figure to improve non-domestic and commercial energy efficiency initiatives throughout Britain.

Offices that have already shown efforts to be mindful of their business gas and business electricity usage over the past 12 months are expected to be the main beneficiaries, as are public sector buildings that are in need of a helping hand to improve their eco-friendly credentials.

The Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS) has selected two specialist fund managers – Equitix and Sustainable Development Capital (SDC) – who have been asked to sniff out potential investment targets in the non-domestic energy efficiency infrastructure.

The Green Deal Investment

Business Secretary Vince Cable hailed the announcement as evidence of “good progress” from the government as it prepares for the full launch of the Green Investment Bank once state aid approval is granted.

“Projects the fund managers invest in will help to save energy and meet the government’s carbon reduction targets,” he said in a statement.

The government cannot officially launch the Green Deal through the Green Investment Bank until it has state aid approval from the EU, although a BIS spokeswoman confirmed that the department is confident approval will be granted by the end of 2012.

The plans come after ministers have had to staunchly defend the need to use state aid approval for the state-controlled bank. Members of the coalition were called to defend using EU funds, saying that the same model had been employed – and integrated successfully – by Germany, whose green credentials cannot be disputed.

Green Deal Projects

The BIS are still not confirming the exact nature of the energy projects that the new bank will invest in, and will only confirm that it is expected to support a range of energy efficiency projects in both the public and commercial energy sector.

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