The UK Green Investment Bank plc (UK GIB) is now officially open for business and has announced two new investments. The ground breaking institution has been funded with £3 billion of Government money and will mobilise additional private capital to make a significant contribution to the development of a green economy.
UK GIB’s first investment since becoming operational entails committing an initial £8 million to a project in the North East of England that will generate energy from waste. This will attract a further £8 million of matching private sector funding. The construction of an Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant at Teesside is the first of six planned over the next five years, making it the largest single AD project in the UK. The investment, made through fund manager Greensphere Capital, is part of a £80 million investment programme by UK GIB in small waste projects.
UK GIB will also invest £5 million to retrofit Kingspan’s UK industrial facilities with systems and services that will reduce its energy consumption by as much as 15 per cent. This investment, through Sustainable Development Capital, is UK GIB’s first project supported in its £100 million non-domestic energy efficiency investment programme.
Business Secretary Vince Cable comments: “The Green Investment Bank – a key coalition pledge – is now a reality. It will place the green economy at the heart of our recovery and position the UK in the forefront of the drive to develop clean energy.”