London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF) announces a green loan to London Borough of Hackney
LEEF’s joint initiative will reduce energy bills by approximately 56%, securing average annual personal savings of £980 for over 1500 tenants.
The London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF), one of two Urban Development Funds established by the Mayor’s London Green Fund through the JESSICA initiative and managed by the Amber Infrastructure led Amber Green Consortium, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to provide a £4.6m loan facility to the London Borough of Hackney’s RE:NEW project to finance energy efficiency improvements.
The senior debt facility will support the installation of communal heating networks across ten separate social housing blocks, designed to alleviate existing fuel poverty for Hackney residents.
In addition to an Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) grant for individual home works financed by NPower, tenants will benefit from the replacement of inefficient electric and gas powered systems, with anticipated carbon savings of 40% due to a corresponding fuel switch. Heating installation will also cut maintenance costs for Hackney Homes.
Cenergist, the Borough’s retained energy advisor, were responsible for the technical and financial design of the project and supported the competitive tender process through which Lakehouse has been announced as the preferred contractor to deliver the works.
LEEF, a £100m sustainable investment fund with £48 million remaining to invest in energy efficiency retrofit projects in London by the end of 2015, recently became available to the private sector, in addition to public, voluntary and third sector bodies.
The widening of the application scope of LEEF’s activities has enabled an even greater range of buildings and bodies across the UK’s capital to benefit from flexible and competitive long-term financing terms and Energy Savings (kWh) of at least 20%. LEEF is able to provide investment of either debt or equity to successful applicants with requirements between £1 - 20 million.
Cllr Philip Glanville, Cabinet Member for Hackney Homes and Regeneration Estates, said: “These new communal heating networks will help to make homes more energy efficient, cutting carbon emissions and at the same time easing financial pressures on our residents.
“Hackney has a strong track record of securing grants like ECO and CESP to deliver greener and more efficient heating systems, and this cost effective LEEF loan allows us to continue delivering these improvements to even more residents.”
The partnership is the first transaction delivered jointly by LEEF and RE:NEW, both programmes established by the Mayor of London. The works are likely to be completed by the end of 2014.
The Deputy Mayor for Housing, Land and Property, Richard Blakeway, said: “Retrofitting London’s homes with energy saving measures is essential to help cut rising fuel bills, keep Londoners warm, and lower CO2 emissions. With the Mayor’s support, this latest initiative in Hackney is set to help around 1500 householders in the Borough to save money. Over 440,000 homes in London have been retrofitted since the Mayor was elected and there are plans to work with other organisations across London to make similar improvements in many more properties.”
Leo Bedford, Director for LEEF at Amber Green said, “LEEF is proud to support Hackney Homes’ efforts to reduce fuel poverty in Hackney. This reiterates LEEF’s commitment to providing dedicated finance designed to tackle rising energy bills and improve carbon efficiency in public and private infrastructure.”
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For further information:
Erica Sibree +44 (0)20 7939 0558
Amber Fund Management Limited
Mitch Barltrop +44 (0)20 3727 1039
FTI Consulting
Notes to Editors:
About JESSICA
JESSICA, the European Union’s Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas, supported by the European Investment Bank, tackles the public sector’s limited access to capital by using private sector expertise and funding to achieve key urban development goals and long-term savings.
About the London Energy Efficiency Fund
Launched in September 2011, LEEF is funded through £50m of public investment from the European Regional Development Fund, London Development Agency and London Waste and Recycling Board, and up to £50m from The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). LEEF aims to be fully invested by 2015.
The fund is managed by the Amber Green Consortium, which comprises the lead sponsor and manager Amber Infrastructure, RBS (as funder) and Arup (as technical advisor).
About Amber Infrastructure Group
Amber Infrastructure Group (Amber) is a leading international infrastructure specialist, providing asset management and investment advisory services in respect of over £4 billion of assets in the UK, Europe, Australia and North America. Amber’s core business focuses on sourcing, developing, advising on, investing in and managing infrastructure assets within the utilities, PPP, transport, renewable energy and regeneration sectors.
Amber provides investment advisory services to International Public Partnerships Limited as well as private investment funds, specialising in urban regeneration and energy efficiency. Amber is headquartered in London with offices in Munich, Sydney, Melbourne and San Francisco and employs approximately 60 people, making it one of the largest international infrastructure specialists.
Amber Green is the specialist brand and team created by Amber Infrastructure Limited to advance Amber’s work in the energy, renewable, regeneration and sustainability arenas.
About Hackney Homes
Hackney Homes (an Arms Length Management Company of Hackney Council) is responsible for managing council homes in Hackney. This includes collecting council housing rent, repairing and maintaining council homes.
Hackney Homes is a not-for-profit organisation which means it is focused on providing services to the community. The Council continue to be involved in housing and is committed to the strategic management of social housing.
Hackney Homes is committed to creating the conditions that will alleviate fuel poverty for all tenants.
About Cenergist
Established in 2012, Cenergist is a specialist energy consultancy which helps clients across a range of sectors to reduce their energy bills and carbon footprints, whilst at the same time helping to reduce the upfront costs associated with this work by providing a range of innovative funding solutions.
Cenergist works with a range of partners to deliver integrated solutions to clients, including local authorities, housing associations, care home providers, the major energy suppliers, and City financial institutions. Its key areas of expertise are in communal heating projects, solar PV, biomass, and all aspects of energy efficiency.
Cenergist operates throughout the UK from offices in Newcastle upon Tyne and Windsor.
About the RE:NEW Support Team
The RE:NEW Support Team is the Mayor’s domestic retrofit programme. Established in June 2013, it is a dedicated free resource for London Boroughs and Registered Providers that is able to provide tailored, flexible support to organisations seeking to carry out or bring forward retrofit work in London. The Team is able to help with data analysis to identify and build programmes, provide guidance on planning issues, and funding and procurement solutions for retrofit works.