The Energy Resilience Fund (ERF) is a £25 million pot, created to support charities and social enterprises in England to reduce energy costs; reduce emissions and increase supply security.
The fund is administered by a group led by Social Investment Business (SIB) and provides blended loans (60%) and grants (40%) to directly improve energy resilience for charities and social enterprises.
Who is eligible for the Energy Resilience Fund?
Organisations which:
- Are charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises looking to install energy saving measures or generation technology to buildings or land
- Are looking to purchase environmentally friendly vehicles or equipment
- Are based in England and serving communities primarily in England
- Were created for social value delivery which improves lives or the environment
- Have more than two years of operating activity
- Turn over more than £100,000 in their previous annual accounts
- Have less than 250 employees
- Turn over less than £40 million
- Have an annual balance sheet total less than £35 million
- Are unable to access mainstream bank lending for this purpose
- Are not under any insolvency or financial difficulty proceedings
- Are In possession of a freehold ownership or a leasehold agreement with more than 12 years remaining and are applying to install energy saving or generating measures
- Are able to demonstrate support from senior decision makers for loan financing
- Are planning to put any vehicles purchased through the scheme onto their balance sheet as assets
- Are registered as a charity, CIC or community benefit society
Fund features
- The fund cannot be used for expenses already incurred or retrospective claims; it is for future projects only
- The fund cannot be used for plans to supply third party organisations, outside of the applicant’s premises
- Hybrid vehicles that are not plug-in are not eligible
- Facilities used for statutory services such as hospitals or state schools cannot apply
- For religious or faith buildings, more than 50 per cent of the activity in the building must be for community use and any energy generation technology must supply that part of the building
- Applicants must have a completed independent energy audit on their premises, which can be attained as part of the application
Some examples of the measures the fund can be deployed on include:
- Lighting
- Glazing
- Solar PV
- Insulation
- Battery Storage
- Heat Pumps
- Wind Turbines
- Equipment which is environmentally friendly
- Battery EVs
- Plug-m Hybrids
- Hydrogen Vehicles
- Preparatory work to enable other energy efficiency measures to go ahead (even if funded elsewhere)
What funding could be accessed through the Energy Resilience Fund?
The total award can be worth between £25,000 and £250,000, split 60% loan and 40% grant. The repayment term will be agreed between two and 10 years with a fixed balance interest rate of 8.5% per annum.
There is an arrangement fee of 2.5% of loan value, added to the balance and a repayment holiday of up to 12 months can be applied from the start if required.
The fund can be spent on capital costs, labour costs, project management, revenue offsetting, building systems installations and training, as long as they are related to energy saving or generation measures, or low emissions vehicles.
What is the application process?
You can apply for the funding via SIB, here.
After submitting the application, SIB will the assess your energy audit or help you arrange one if required.
You will need to supply quote and pricing details you have gathered to inform the application.
A consultation period will then take place for SIB or partners to seek answers to any questions they have regarding your application.
Finally, the final pack will reach a decision committee, who will notify you of their decision on whether to award the funding.
How Procure Smart can help
If your organisation is interested in discussing an application, Procure Smart’s renewable technologies experts can help advise you on the process, as well as provide quotes and specifics needed to support the evidence.
Procure Smart offers a turnkey renewables project service, from inception to delivery and all funding and project management in between.
Speak to us for an informal discussion. Simply complete the form below.
