A joint partnership between the Carbon Trust and Siemens to provide UK companies with green equipment finance worth up to £550m was announced today.
All businesses will be able to apply for new green growth finance from the scheme, which begins on April 4 2011 and lasts for three years.
The finance will enable successful applicants to invest in cost-effective energy efficiency equipment or other low-carbon technologies, such as efficient lighting or biomass heating.
Siemens Financial Services will provide the financial backing and manage the provision of funding, and the Carbon Trust will use its expertise in carbon saving from energy efficient technologies to assess the carbon, energy and cost savings of any application.
According to the partners the deal will boost green growth and unlock business investment in the low carbon economy - key to the UK’s recovery.
Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, commented: “Driving green growth in the UK is key to our economic recovery. A missing ingredient at present is access to affordable finance to enable business to make green investments. This new major finance facility will improve business competitiveness, cut carbon and boost green growth.”
Lord Teverson, co-chair of a recent parliamentary inquiry into energy efficiency in business, commented: “This is brilliant news for UK businesses willing to seize the financial opportunity that is energy efficiency.”
The announcement of the Siemens-Carbon Trust scheme follows the publication of a report earlier this week from Carbon Connect, a body led by secretary of state for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne MP.
The report highlighted how government and business can work together to improve energy efficiency in the private sector and save businesses £6bn a year.
Lord Teverson said that the Carbon Connect report shows “how the savings in both cash and carbon make energy efficiency a no-brainer. What’s more, not only do these savings benefit business, they benefit the whole nation in achieving a low-carbon future for Britain”.
© Crimson Business. Ltd 2011