Monday 3 November 2014

UK green bank passes £5bn milestone

The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has mobilised more than £5 billion of funding for clean energy projects in the two years since starting up.

Launched in October 2012, it has invested around £1.6 billion in 37 projects - ranging from offshore wind farms to energy efficiency to energy from waste developments - across Britain, with companies putting in £3.7 billion.

Once all the investments are operational, the GIB is projected to make an annual operating profit in excess of £10 million every year.

The projects are also expected to produce enough electricity to power more than three million homes, prevent 1.5 million tonnes of waste going to landfill as well as cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3.6 million tonnes.

Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated the GIB on its second birthday.

He said: “Under this Government, as part of our long-term economic plan to back business, create more jobs and secure a brighter future for Britain, we have become one of the best places for green investment anywhere in the world – and the Green Investment Bank has played an instrumental role in this.”