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The Nuclear Free Local Authorities have welcomed a recent government commitment to invest £200 million to install solar panels on 200 hospitals and 200 schools across the UK, with recipients benefiting for reduced fuel bills and the nation a reduced carbon footprint.
Additionally, ministers also awarded a further £12 million to local authorities and to community groups to support new renewable energy projects.
The NFLAs have been strong advocates for the installation of solar panels on public buildings and have also called for more funding for local authorities and community energy projects in carrying out this work. Local authorities and community groups have frequently been at the forefront of this activity installing solar on municipal offices, community and leisure centres, schools, colleges, social housing, and carparks.
NFLA Chair Councillor Lawrence O’Neill explains why: “Rooftop solar is a popular renewable energy source and is logical as it makes effective use of neglected space to generate electricity or heat that can be utilised by the occupiers of the host building, reducing bills, improving energy efficiency and providing an income when a surplus is sold to the grid. Ultimately in the case of public buildings, the public benefits as less taxpayer money must be spent on heating and lighting. In the case of schools and colleges, an additional benefit also accrues – a solar installation also provides an educational resource that can be used with students to teach them the importance of ‘going green’”.
This news come not have been more timely as it comes on the back of a recent appeal made by the NFLAs to Energy Minister Michael Shanks as Parliament once more debated the Great British Energy Bill. We called on him to provide more funding for community groups through the Community Energy Fund, as cash was fast running out with over 100 projects waiting in the wings, and make Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh groups eligible for funding.
This was covered in our recent media release https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/nflas-appeal-to-energy-minister-over-future-of-the-community-energy-fund/
Steve Shaw from Power for People, a campaign group which has also been championing this provision, told the NFLAs in response to this news:
“This is a good result and exactly what we were calling for. Once again, we’ve proved together that organised advocacy really does get results”.
Ends//..For more information please contact NFLA Secretary Richard Outram by email to: richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
Extract from the Government press release dated 21 March 2025
Great British Energy to cut bills for hospitals and schools
Great British Energy’s first project will put rooftop solar panels on 200 schools and 200 hospitals – cutting energy bills.
Hundreds of schools, NHS trusts and communities across the UK will benefit from new rooftop solar power and renewable schemes to save money on their energy bills, thanks to a total £200 million investment from the UK government and Great British Energy.
In another step forward for the government’s Plan for Change, the Energy Secretary has today (Friday 21 March) announced the first major project for Great British Energy – a company owned by the British people, for the British people. It will immediately begin working with schools, the NHS, and devolved governments to install solar panels, build local clean power and bring down energy bills.
In England around £80 million in funding will support around 200 schools, alongside £100 million for nearly 200 NHS sites, covering a third of NHS trusts, to install rooftop solar panels that could power classrooms and operations, with potential to sell leftover energy back to the grid.
The first panels are expected to be in schools and hospitals by the end of summer 2025, saving schools money for the next academic year.
Schools and hospitals have been hit with rocketing energy bills in recent years, costing taxpayers millions of pounds, and eating into school budgets. This has been driven by the UK’s dependency on global fossil fuel markets. The NHS is the single biggest public sector energy user, with an estimated annual energy bill of £1.4 billion, that has more than doubled since 2019.
Great British Energy’s first investment could see millions invested back into frontline services, targeting deprived areas, with lifetime savings for schools and the NHS of up to £400 million over around 30 years.
Estimates suggest that on average, a typical school could save up to £25,000 per year, whilst the average NHS site could save up to £45,000 per year on their annual energy bill if they had solar panels with complementary technologies installed such as batteries.
In addition, local authorities and community energy groups will also be supported by nearly £12 million to help build local clean energy projects – from community-led onshore wind, to solar on rooftops and hydropower in rivers – that can help drive growth. These could generate profits which could then be reinvested into community projects or take money off people’s bills. A further £9.3 million will power schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland including community energy or rooftop solar for public buildings….
Currently only about 20% of schools and under 10% of hospitals have solar panels installed, but the technology has huge potential to save money on bills.
For example, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust installed a solar canopy over the car park at its Wharfedale Hospital site that will reduce carbon emissions by 43.7 tonnes per year and save the trust £75,000 annually. A large project at Hull University Teaching Hospital has 11,000 solar panels which saved it around £250,000 a month last summer. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s new solar farm at a former landfill site is expected to power the entire hospital site with self-generated renewable energy for around 288 days a year – saving around £15-20 million over the next 2 decades.
The support will target schools and hospitals with buildings that are able to accommodate solar panels in areas of England most in need. As part of this, government will select the schools which will be primarily clustered in areas of deprivation in the North East, West Midlands and North West, as well as at least 10 schools in each region. Each cluster will include a further education college which will work with the contractors appointed to promote careers in renewables to support growth in the construction and renewables workforce. This could be through work placements, skills bootcamps and workshops.
Alongside this, the NHS ran an expression of interest process to identify the selected hospital sites, with installations managed by the NHS.
The funding will support the government’s clean power mission as well as helping to rebuild the nation’s public services. It forms Great British Energy’s first local investment, kickstarting the Local Power Plan and ensuring the benefits of this national mission are felt at a local level, with energy security, good jobs and economic growth.
Backed by £8.3 billion over this Parliament, Great British Energy will own and invest in clean energy projects across the UK. This will range from supporting local energy – like the solar power schemes announced today – to unlocking significant investment in major clean energy projects that will revitalise the UK’s industrial heartlands with new jobs, alongside securing Britain’s energy supply.
Notes to editors
Great British Energy Solar:
The full list of hospitals benefitting from funding is included below. Solar panels could be installed on hospital rooftops or ground-mounted in car parks or other areas on NHS sites. Further details on the schools benefitting will be set out in the spring following feasibility assessments.
Great British Energy Community Fund:
The government and Great British Energy are also providing funding to kick start Great British Energy’s support for community energy projects. Community energy groups will be able to access a share of £5 million in grant funding to support projects that will help communities generate their own clean power. This will build on funding to back projects including a new hydro-power technology in the River Dane to generate renewable energy for homes and businesses in Congleton, Cheshire.
Local Net Zero Hubs:
The government is providing £6.8 million for existing Local Net Zero Hubs located across England, which offer a free to use service for local authorities to access the expertise and resource to get clean energy projects up and running, helping to pave the way for more community energy projects. The hubs are already supporting projects ranging from a new zero carbon hospital in West Suffolk, to a low Carbon Technology Centre in Herefordshire that will help local workers develop new skills in the clean energy sector.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland community energy funding:
Over £9.3 million funding for the devolved governments will be used for renewable energy schemes which can be deployed either onto public sector buildings or to support new community or local renewables schemes. This includes £4.85 million for Scotland, £2.88 million for Wales and £1.62 million for Northern Ireland.
The government has already announced an unprecedented partnership between Great British Energy and The Crown Estate to unlock investment in clean energy, confirmed Aberdeen will host Great British Energy’s headquarters, and struck a deal with the Scottish Government for the company to work with Scottish public bodies to support clean energy supply chains.
Great British Energy:
The members of Great British Energy’s start-up board met in Aberdeen on Monday 17 March for the first time, including Chair Juergen Maier, interim CEO Dan McGrail and the 5 non-executive directors. The government is also legislating through the Great British Energy Bill to give the company the powers it needs to rapidly deliver.
Great British Energy will support the government’s mission for clean power by 2030, with an action plan published in December to get more homegrown clean power to people and provide the foundation for the UK to build an energy system that can bring down bills for households and businesses for good.
NHS:
In October 2020 the NHS made a commitment to be net zero by 2040 for the emissions it directly controls and by 2045 for the emissions it influences.
Estates and facilities account for 15% of the NHS carbon footprint, and the NHS is the UK’s largest single public energy user, with an estimated annual energy cost of nearly £1.5 billion.
