Extra £5 million for Welsh businesses and the public sector to become energy efficient

The Welsh Assembly Government has today announced an extra £5 million to help small businesses and the public sector become more energy efficient and lower their carbon emissions.

The funding has been awarded to the Carbon Trust in Wales to support the ‘invest-to-save’ programme that provides interest free loans to pay for the installation of energy efficiency measures. The funding will be repayable over up to eight years from the savings made and the repaid money will be recycled to help others.
This brings the total Assembly Government support for the Carbon Trust Wales to £9.5 million during 2009/10 for energy efficiency projects.

A total of £4 million will go towards a loan scheme open to any public sector body in Wales, from hospitals, schools, museums and local government. The money can be used to fund 80 different energy efficiency technologies, including building insulation, boiler and lighting upgrades and IT improvements.

And £1 million will be used by the Carbon Trust to increase the money available for their existing business loan scheme for small businesses in Wales. The extra money brings the Welsh Assembly Government’s total support for the Carbon Trust Wales to £9.5 million during 2009/10 for energy efficiency projects.

Gwenda Thomas, AM for Neath today supported the Welsh Assembly Government Environment Minister Jane Davidson’s comments regarding climate change and the need for Welsh businesses to reduce their costs and become more energy efficient.
‘ Businesses and organisations, and indeed individuals, now have the responsibility to reduce their carbon footprint. This funding will assist businesses to do this, reduce their energy bills and also make them more competitive in the market place. ‘ emphasised Mrs. Thomas.

‘This is a fantastic initiative and the WAG funding will help Carbon Trust Wales to publicise and promote the interest free loans available, helping individuals organisations to become more efficient and indeed helping to push Wales forward in it’s goal to becoming a low carbon economy.’

Any organisation interested in applying for an Interest-free Energy Efficiency loan can contact the Carbon Trust helpline on 0800 085 2005 or for more information visit www.carbontrust.co.uk. Public sector organisations can also apply on line at www.salixfinance.co.uk.