Businesses in Northern Ireland will be able to continue to secure funds to purchase energy efficiency solutions after the Carbon Trust was awarded a new contract to extend Invest NI’s 0% APR Energy Efficiency Loan Fund for at least two more years.
The contract was approved following an independent review of the scheme’s success over the past 13 years and a competitive tender and allows businesses to borrow between £3,000 and £400,000 to fund their project.
Loans are provided at 0% interest to support businesses looking to replace their out of date and inefficient equipment, such as lighting, heating and air conditioning, or by investing in renewables.
Abigail Hermon, head of loans at the Carbon Trust, said: “Staying competitive in an increasingly challenging market is going to become a bigger priority for businesses in Northern Ireland. With our help, there are costs businesses can reduce without impacting their productivity.”
The loans have been designed so that in most cases the monthly savings on energy bills should exceed the monthly repayments, with the repayment term being between one and four years.
One business that has benefitted from an energy efficiency loan was Beverage Plastics in Craigavon. The company was able to install a new injection moulding machine, which saved them 55% on their energy bills in just six months.
Currently, businesses are able to claim for energy efficiency funding from the government through the Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme (NISEP).
However, the future of this policy is uncertain as proposals for an EnergyWise scheme consulted on earlier this year would only allow households to draw down from the scheme, despite it still being partly funding by commercial businesses.
While these plans have been put on hold for a year following a surprise extension from government, the plans are still under consideration by the Northern Ireland Executive’s Department for the Economy.
