Private sector scheme wins £10m

A new scheme to boost the of renewable energy will receive funding from the government,
The Partnership for Renewables (PfR) scheme will partner private sector organisations with local authorities, hospitals and other public sector bodies to develop on-site renewable energy projects. According to environment secretary David Miliband the scheme, which is run by the Carbon Trust, will benefit from £10m of investment from the UK government.
Under the scheme, the Carbon Trust hopes to have 500MW of renewable energy projects, primarily in the form of wind turbines, constructed or under development within the next five years.
“This amount of renewable energy is enough to serve the homes of Exter, Oxford, Norwich and Newcastle combined. That’s the equivalent of 250,000 houses at zero carbon cost to the environment,” commented Miliband.
“Renewable installations have been held back because the public and private sectors are not working together. We hope that the investment form the government will encourage the two to work together,” he added.
“PfR is an important step towards a low carbon economy. Our ambitious plans for this scheme would see wind generation increased by 25% as well as acting as a catalyst for the private sector to invest in their own on-site renewable projects. It would potentially save as much as 190,000 tonnes of carbon each year, which will address the threat of climate change and contribute to the goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2060,” explained Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust.
The announcement of the scheme and the investment has also been welcomed by BWEA, the renewable energy organisation, which was formed 28 years ago.
“This is welcome news for our members working in onshore wind. There are many good examples of wind energy already developed on public sector land, for example in schools and hospitals. We feel the PfR scheme will catalyse further development of this sector,” said chief executive Maria McCaffery.