It has been announced that Phase 3 of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) will open for applications at 2pm on Wednesday 6th October 2021.
As in the previous two rounds, funding is aimed at projects which decarbonise heating systems in public sector buildings. In this round, the priority will be given to fund decarbonisation projects where the heating systems are approaching the end of their working lives and there is imminent need for replacement. The existing system must be fossil fuel based and the applicant will need to contribute funds to the equivalent value of a traditional fossil fuelled solution, with the grant funding topping up the cost to deliver the project using low/zero carbon technology.
The portal for application will only be open for four weeks – closing at 2pm on Wednesday 3rd November 2021. Time is therefore very limited for organisations to get their bids together and submitted.
It has also been revealed that applications will be assessed, and funding awarded to eligible projects, in the order in which applications are received. As previous phases of the scheme have been oversubscribed, organisations that wish to submit bids are being advise to do so as soon as possible.
In Phase 3 of the PSDS, there will be no cap on the value of grant an organisation can apply for. This is therefore a good opportunity for organisations to seek funding for larger scale projects or as part of a “whole building” approach where a replacement heating system is involved. Other technologies can be added into the bid provided that these elements support the delivery of the core heat decarbonisation scheme.
Successful organisations are likely to be informed early in 2022 with a view to the project being completed between April 2022 – March 2023. Applicants must be able to demonstrate in their application that they have the resource and supply chains lined up to be able to deliver the project by the agreed dates.
Organisations that have previously applied for funding in Phase 1 and 2 are able to apply in this phase, even if they have previously been allocated funding. This being said, as this phase differs from both previous phases, it won’t be possible to simply resubmit a previous bid; the bid for phase 3 will need to be tailored to meet the criteria for funding.
We have already helped a number of academy schools and multi-academy trusts to successfully obtain funding in previous phases of the PSDS. To discuss applying for funding for Phase 3 of the Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund, please contact us.
