As part of their covid-response package, Kent County Council Business and Enterprise supported SMEs across Kent by delivering a Green Recovery Voucher scheme. Running from April 2022, the scheme offered businesses a grant of up to £1.5K, in order to make changes to reduce their carbon footprint and energy costs.
The key objective of the scheme was to attract any Kent based businesses needing financial support following the pandemic, to guide and advise them on ways to reduce their running costs, and to do this in consideration of the county’s moral responsibility and statutory requirement to meet Net Zero by 2050.
Following a tender process, ECO MEP were appointed as the Council’s provider for the design, supply and installation of energy efficient measures, under the scheme.
Appointing a dedicated resource within the ECO MEP office to handle the numerous enquiries which were received from businesses looking to take advantage of the grant on offer, we arranged site visits, carried out surveys and advised on the possible carbon and cost reducing efficiencies which could be made specific to the site/business.
Successful applicants of the £1.5K vouchers under the scheme included commercial premises, hospitality venues, industrial manufacturing sites and fresh produce preparation facilities, to name a few. The majority of the applicants then invested beyond the voucher sum to introduce measures which ultimately reduced their outgoing energy costs, as well as reducing their carbon output.
In total 40 energy preserving projects were completed by ECO MEP under the voucher scheme across lighting, heating, hot water provision (including controls), and other positive improvements to business energy use, as well as machinery and equipment upgrades leading to improved process efficiencies.
Upon full allocation of the scheme’s fund, KCC calculated the total carbon reduction attributable to the projects ECO MEP delivered as equating to 107 ton of Co2 saved yearly. A win for Kent based businesses, and our planet!
To discuss how your business can become more energy efficient or reduce its carbon emissions through product upgrades, contact us.
