Clive Nattrass, programme director for the Carbon and Energy Fund (CEF), describes how the Fund can potentially help NHS Trusts seeking to upgrade and improve their infrastructure to reduce their carbon footprint, and thus make useful energy savings, to secure the necessary finance.
He outlines the steps that Trusts interested in obtaining CEF funding need to take, and explains the key timelines over the next 3-4 years.
Many Trusts wish to procure energy infrastructure upgrade for their hospitals that will save carbon, energy, money, and future investment. Twenty-eight Trusts have already done just this, upgrading their facilities using private sector capital repaid through guaranteed savings. The Carbon Energy Fund is a vehicle open only to the NHS. It has £100 million of capital to invest, and a promise of another £100 m, all for carbon and energy infrastructure upgrades. The Fund is currently procuring the framework of contractors it needs to complete its offering of quick, fee-free projects by mid-year. Trusts will be able to use this framework, the framework contract, and the advice and ongoing support of the Fund specialists, to implement their own carbon and energy infrastructure upgrades. The Fund is available now to fund projects, and the framework will be available in June this year. Fund administrative costs will be recovered through a small levy on each project, which will be paid from the guaranteed savings, and largely invisible to the Trust concerned, removing the need to procure advisors and incur specialist fees (the levy is currently subject to valuefor- money checks).
How the Fund works
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