UK green bank to enhance renewable energy sector

The first UK Green Investment Bank was officially opened by business secretary Vince Cable in November.

Headquartered in Edinburgh, with a large presence also in London, the bank will use £3 billion ($4.8 billion) of government money to invest in sectors like carbon capture and storage, renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.

Cable believes the bank will place green economy at the heart of the UK economic recovery and that the £3 billion ‘will leverage private sector capital to fund projects in priority sectors from offshore wind to waste and non-domestic energy efficiency, helping to deliver our commitment to create jobs and growth right across the UK’.

One of the first companies set to benefit from funds invested from the bank is sustainable product provider Kingspan.

The agreement will see £5 million of investment to retrofit Kingspan’s UK industrial facilities with systems and services that will reduce energy consumption by as much as 15%. The projects will be designed and delivered by Johnson Controls.

‘We have started our Net Zero Energy initiative, which aims to have Kingspan facilities running on renewably sourced power by 2020. Our interim target is to achieve up to 50% by the end of 2016,’ says Kingspan CEO Gene Murtagh. ‘To help achieve our targets it’s essential that our facilities use and manage energy in the most efficient way. We are delighted to be delivering retrofit solutions for our own sites.’

The first project will take place at Kingspan’s Holywell factory in North Wales before the end of this year.