Carbon Trust and Siemens (NYSE: SI) announced a joint partnership to provide UK businesses with green equipment finance worth up to £550 million over the next three years has been announced today.
The new dedicated low carbon finance scheme is a first and will enable UK businesses to invest in cost effective energy efficiency equipment or other low carbon technologies, such as new efficient lighting and biomass heating.
All businesses will be able to apply for new green growth finance from the scheme beginning April 4, 2011.
Under a Heads of Agreement signed between the two parties Siemens Financial Services Ltd. in the UK (SFS UK) 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. This will enable the financing to pay for itself through energy savings.
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.”
John Sauven, Executive Director of Greenpeace, welcomed the partnership: “This green finance deal is exactly the sort of initiative that we need to see happening more frequently in the future. A green growth strategy can only work if it is backed by green finance. Deals like this, alongside the development of a green infrastructure bank, could be a tipping point that the UK economy needs to get out of the current doldrums.”
The Carbon Trust and Siemens Financial Services have also agreed to finance a new commercial venture that will increase the take up of energy efficiency projects. This venture will offer procurement support to businesses wishing to purchase energy efficiency equipment at scale from a network of accredited suppliers and will be launched later this year.
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