Mayor supports London Fire Brigade’s and Crystal Palace National Sports Centre’s green ambitions with multi-million pound investment
- LFB receive £22m loan to move towards electric fire engine fleet
- Crystal Palace National Sports Centre to go all-electric and reduce carbon emissions as £23m loan secured
- Barnet Council given £2m loan towards ambitious retrofit project across the borough
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has delivered a £47m boost to London’s net-zero goals as he announces the three new beneficiaries of his Green Finance Fund (GFF). The London Fire Brigade, Crystal Palace National Sports Centre and the London Borough of Barnet will all receive finance to support their ambitious decarbonisation plans.
The London Fire Brigade will receive a £22.4m financing facility from the Green Finance Fund* to upgrade the electrical infrastructure of 55 London fire stations in order to support the transition to an electric vehicle fleet.
This will form the first step towards installing electrical heating systems and high-speed electrical vehicle chargers at fire stations across the capital, reducing the LFB’s reliance on fossil fuels.
As part of the wider extensive redevelopment of the historic site, the Mayor has also approved £10m investment into an energy network and energy efficiency measures at the renovated Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. These measures are expected to reduce the facility’s total carbon emissions by over 90 per cent through enhanced insulation, upgrades to window glazing and the installation of new LED lighting and an integrated building management system.
The fund will also contribute over £13m towards the installation of an air source heat pump network to serve both the Sports Centre, adjacent stadium, and associated sporting facilities which would allow it to go all-electric and eliminate the reliance on fossil fuels entirely from the site for the first time in its 60-year history**.
The redevelopment of the 1960s Crystal Palace National Sports Centre estate will include a complete rebuild of the swimming pool structures within the iconic Grade II* listed National Sports Centre and improvements to the sporting facilities throughout the wider estate.
Sadiq hopes that a planning application for the comprehensive redevelopment of Crystal Palace National Sports Centre will be brought forward this year and that a contractor will be able to start work in 2025.
The Mayor has also announced today that Barnet Council will receive a £2m loan from the Green Finance Fund to support the borough’s £12m corporate estate retrofit programme across 1,000 buildings, including 150 schools. The estimated carbon savings for the project is 762 tCO2e per annum, which is equivalent to heating 364 homes per year. Barnet are the first London borough to secure funding from the GFF.
The GFF is one of several schemes that make up the Mayor’s London Climate Finance Facility (LCFF). Projects financed so far by the LCFF are expected to save the equivalent of more than 60,000 tonnes of CO2e per year, the equivalent of heating more than 28,000 homes per year. The Green Finance Fund will re-open for Expressions of Interest on Wednesday 13 March 2024, closing on Wednesday 15 May 2024.
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m committed to London hitting its goal of being a net zero city by 2030, but we can only achieve this if we all work together now.
“This financing shows how much carbon we can save if we make a conscious effort to prioritise and invest in energy efficient and green projects in the city. I am proud that since 2018 our green finance programmes have seen £1.1 billion made available to support the decarbonisation of buildings, energy systems and transport across the capital.
“This latest financing has been allocated to some really important projects across London, including the regeneration of the flagship Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. Together we can build a cleaner, fairer, greener and more prosperous London for everyone.”
Carbon Reduction Strategy Manager at London Fire Brigade, Paul Cook, said: "We are committed to supporting the Mayor of London's ambitions to make London carbon net zero by 2030 and we have developed a comprehensive carbon net zero strategy.
“We actively explore every funding opportunity, with significant funding still to be secured, which is vital to enabling us to make the necessary improvements across our operation that supports our strategy.”
Crystal Palace National Sports Centre Project Director, Ben Woods said: “We are delighted to receive finance as we develop our exciting plans to de-carbonise this iconic sporting and community venue.
“Moving away from a reliance on fossil fuels for the first time in its 60-year history is a huge step towards securing a sustainable future for the estate. Implementing an innovative energy strategy will ensure the centre can continue to support Londoners to lead active and healthy lives for generations to come.”
Cllr Anne Clarke, Barnet Cabinet Member for Community Wealth Building and Assembly Member for Barnet & Camden, said:
“Barnet Council is pleased to receive the £1.9m loan from the GLA’s Green Finance Fund.
“Through our BarNET ZERO programme, we are committed to making the council net zero by 2030 and borough by 2042. The GLA’s loan will help fund our decarbonisation schemes at 19 council owned sites by the end of June 2024.”
Notes to editors
* Subject to a final decision by the Credit Committee on the loan agreement.
** The GFF investment will ensure that this historic Sports Centre adapts to a green energy future and delivers against the Mayor’s net zero by 2030 target. The proposed works are expected to reduce energy demand by around 70 per cent and total carbon emissions by over 90 per cent (approximately 2,500 tCO2e) per year.
About the London Climate Finance Facility
The Mayor’s 2021 manifesto committed to establish a finance facility to further his environmental aims. The GLA commissioned the Green Finance Institute (GFI) to advise on the approach and structures for a London Climate Finance Facility (LCFF) which was set up in June 2023.
The London Climate Finance Facility (LCFF) includes:
· the £500m Green Finance Fund (GFF), which provides low-cost loans to the GLA group, local authorities, social housing providers, NHS bodies, universities, colleges and museums accredited by the Arts Council to deliver their green projects;
· The Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund (MEEF), which has enabled investment of £420m in low carbon, sustainable projects and infrastructure London needs to tackle the climate emergency;
· the £100m London Efficient and Decentralised Generation of Energy Fund which will support any London organisation aiming to reduce their carbon footprint.
· Low Carbon Accelerators, which provide no-cost support to users at the point of service, including local authorities and anchor institutions to help develop projects that are ready for investment.
The carbon savings since 2018 associated with the GFF and MEEF are:
*Based on the average annual mileage of 6,600 miles per annum for a UK driver – Department for Transport, 2022
**Based on an average 2-3 bedroom house consumption of 11,500kWh – OFGEM, 2023
The next window for eligible organisations to submit expressions of interest to the Green Finance Fund opens 13 March and will be open until 15 May. Full eligibility and instructions on how to submit an EoI is available online.