03/02/2004

Community Energy projects get £6m cash boost

New energy-efficient schemes to heat homes, schools and other public buildings received more than £6 million today, adding to the £22 million already handed out to projects under the Community Energy Programme.

Eight projects in England, Scotland and Wales delivering community heating will get government grants, helping to reduce energy bills and combat both greenhouse gases and fuel poverty. The schemes between them will cost more than £32 million and cut carbon emissions by almost 4,000 tonnes a year.

The awards include £13,991 to Buckinghamshire County Council to heat its Environmental Education Centre using sawmill waste. Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council gets £500,000 to heat flats and a primary school in one of England's most deprived wards, with grants also to the Family Housing Association (£35,000) and Southampton University (£30,000).

Lord Whitty, Minister for Sustainable Energy, said: "The Community Energy programme continues to deliver real benefits to people at work, leisure and at home. We have allocated more than half the total £50 million available, but there are still opportunities for communities across the UK to benefit. I look forward to receiving many more good bids, building a sustainable market for community heating, using both CHP and renewable energy."

(gmcg)

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