Phase 3c Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme

15 May 2024

Phase 3c Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme

More than £530million of funding has been handed to public sector organisations across the country under Phase 3c of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

Schools, hospitals, fire stations, universities and other public buildings will benefit from the funding used to tackle climate change.

The organisations will now start implementing energy efficiency works in a bid to meet ambitious net zero targets.

For a list of successful grant recipients see gov.uk

A total of 189 organisations have been awarded grants for 222 heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects. Additional funding will be allocated through Phase 3c over the coming weeks.

For full news story see here.

Phase 3 of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, worth £1.425bn, was launched by Salix on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in 2021.

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.

An additional financial year of funding has been granted by the Department for Phase 3c. This funding increases the value of the overall funding to the scheme and will enable Phase 3c projects to deliver across two financial years.

Phase 3c of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has up to £230 million available in 2024/25. The budget available in 2025/26 will be confirmed this autumn though applicants should assume a broadly balanced profile across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

This scheme continues its task to reduce fossil fuels as well as making public buildings more comfortable and more efficient to warm. This is important as we know most of the buildings in the public sector still rely on burning fossil fuels for heating, hot water, and catering. 

Salix has witnessed immense successes with the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and Phase 3c will build on previous Phases 3a and 3b with refinements that respond to the feedback we have received, ultimately helping our applicants in their journey to net zero. 

A list of the projects funded through the latest round of Phase 3 funding, Phase 3b, can be found on the Phase 3 gov.uk page: Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme: Phase 3 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).  Lists of projects funded through Phases 1, 2 and 3a can also be found on the scheme's gov.uk page. 

• Helps reduce fossil fuel emissions as well as making public buildings more comfortable and cheaper to warm. 
• For Phase 3c of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, an additional financial year of funding has been granted by the Department. This funding increases the value of the overall funding to the scheme and will enable Phase 3c projects to deliver across two financial years.
• Applicants can submit separate applications for separate projects or combine several projects for delivery across one or two financial years.
• Ongoing client and technical support on project delivery. 
• Introduction of application status updates that will be available to applicants through their Application Portal account. 
• Categorisation of soft sector caps (divided by Health, Education and Other) to ensure a more balanced distribution of funds across sectors. 
• Applicants can include energy efficiency measures and other enabling works, that are additional to the replacement of the fossil fuel heating system, where they support a whole building approach to decarbonisation. 

For a step-by-step guide to your Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme 3c application please visit the Applicant Journey. 

We have created a series of guidance videos that takes you through the application form for Phase 3c of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. We strongly recommend you watch these videos to familiarise yourself with the application process.

There are several videos are under Step 4 of the applicant's journey.