Established in July 2011, The Carbon and Energy Fund (CEF), together with strategic partners from the Department of Health, NHS Scotland, and NHS SBS, was set up to assist NHS Trusts to deliver CHP-type projects, together with wider estate energy efficiencies and renewable measures.
Over the past two years, it has delivered two tranches of energy infrastructure projects valued at £75 million. These completed projects are saving NHS Trusts £16 m, and 80,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per annum, respectively. CEF is currently in the process of delivering a third tranche of projects, valued at £30 m. CEF provides NHS Trusts with the technical expertise to:
• ‘Transfer risk to whoever can best manage it’, principally private sector organisations.
• Enable NHS organisations to realise the benefits of large-scale procurement.
• Make competitive and task-specific funding (15-30 year energy infrastructure finance) available to the NHS.
• Provide a fast, robust, procurement route for the NHS, reducing overall risk and costs.
• Provide the NHS with the necessary task-specific technical, legal, and project management resources, and ongoing support for projects.
• ‘Prove and audit’ savings annually for the whole contract period, with reimbursement for savings not achieved.
