Bid to boost home energy efficiency

INNOVATION Energy Yorkshire and the Humber is a joint bid by 10 local authorities and their arm’s-length management organisations (ALMOs), housing associations and Yorkshire Energy Services. The bid’s lead partner is Community Energy Solutions CIC, preferred partner of Yorkshire Forward. Barnsley and Doncaster council are local partners within the South Yorkshire region.

 £7.5 million is available from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which will be shared by partners delivering a range of energy efficiency improvement works, which will include the installation of solid wall insulation, fuel switching, boiler replacement and renewables. The three-year project will begin next June.

ERDF funding will enable a wider suite of works to an estimated value of £30 million across the whole region to be delivered. Partners including Barnsley Council will also be investing significant capital funds to make the programme a reality.

The bidding organisations also intend to tap into the Community Energy Savings Programme, for which the council’s Strategic Housing, Berneslai Homes and British Gas are working in partnership to secure funds for hard-to-treat properties and those suitable for renewable technologies like solar thermal systems.

Cllr Bill Newman, Cabinet spokesperson for Development, said: “This welcome development is a key strand of our energy strategy. It’s important to recognise the context and joined-up thinking; this activity links to the wider regions of Sheffield and Leeds, where key partnerships are working to give energy efficiency a real boost. It will also make a significant contribution to our zero carbon 2016 agenda.”

Cllr Newman said the ERDF bid had been accepted by Yorkshire Forward. The consortium is now developing the proposal to full business plan stage, using an innovative finance model created by Yorkshire Energy Services that accurately reflects the complexity of funding an energy efficiency programme from a variety of sources.

He added: “Barnsley’s bid targets deprived communities. We have selected Athersley as our preferred area on the basis of maximising the number of interventions and the desire to offer an attractive package of measures to a utility funder.”

 ENDS