Published: Wednesday, 3rd March 2021
Borough council buildings are to become more environmentally friendly thanks to decarbonisation grants worth more than £3.8M.
Two grants have been awarded by the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and are from the Government’s £1 billion Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) fund.
Cllr Kunes, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Commercial Services, explained: “These grants mean that we can make our buildings more environmentally friendly through adapting to low or non-carbon generating technologies, such as solar PV panels and air and ground source heat pumps. This is really exciting news and means a very big step forward in the Councils aim to become Carbon neutral as soon as possible.
“The council’s first bid for £2.84m was successful in January and this was followed by a further grant of just over £1m in February. The work should be completed before the end of this year. The reduction in carbon emissions from the overall project is estimated at a total of 494 tonnes per year.”
Seven buildings were included in the first-round application. The buildings/sites and the proposed technologies are:
- Lynnsport - Solar Photovoltaics (SP) & Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP)
- Downham Market Leisure Centre – Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)
- St James’ Pool - ASHP
- King’s Court – ASHP, Timerclock controls
- Fairstead Community Centre – Loft insulation improvement, SP, ASHP
- Valentine Road offices, Hunstanton – Timerclock controls, SP, Loft insulation improvement, GSHP
- Council Depot (Factory 1), Hardwick – SP, cavity wall insulation improvement, GSHP
The second-round bid covered the following buildings and technologies:
- Oasis, Hunstanton - Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP)
- Guildhall, King’s Lynn – ASHP
- South Lynn Community Centre -ASHP, Solar PV
- Dutton Pavillion, King’s Lynn – Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)
The project now moves to the detailed design stage, including applying for any necessary consents.
The scheme is part of the Council’s ongoing Re:Fit programme, as it seeks to remove carbon from its existing stock of buildings. The borough council will be working with our Re:Fit partners, Ameresco, to deliver the project. The work is 100% grant funded and will be considered by Cabinet on 16 March 2021.