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Please contact [email protected] to find out more about future support or opportunities to get involved.

FAQs

The Local Energy Accelerator (LEA) provides fully-funded expertise (across technical, commercial, strategic and project management services) to support the development of low carbon, decentralised energy projects in London. The support is provided by a team of pre-approved consultants who are part of the Local Energy Framework of Consultants. 

LEA supports the development of projects including district or estate energy networks using renewable heat sources; renewable generation of electricity; demand flexibility project development and others.

LEA can support projects that will deliver high carbon savings of around 250 tonnes CO2e per year as a minimum threshold. The minimum size and scale depends on the type of project – for example, for a solar PV installation, the minimum size of installation is likely to be around 700kW but for a heat pump it would be around 350 kW if the plant was used as baseload supply.

An applicant could combine different types of projects, for example a smaller heat pump and a PV array, so long as they are connected to the same system.  It is also possible to aggregate more than one project under the same framework procurement.

There is no minimum or maximum level of funding – we look at the resulting carbon savings or the megawatt capacity of renewable energy you are looking to install and consider this in line with overall objectives of the programme.

No, LEA does not provide capital funding – LEA funds expertise to support the development and delivery of low carbon, decentralised energy projects and this covers revenue only. However, LEA can assist projects in gaining capital funding to accelerate and unlock projects that will reduce carbon emissions and increase renewable energy capacity in London.

We are working to meet the programme’s decarbonisation targets by end July 2023, so at present we are prioritising projects which can be completed in a shorter timescale. 

However, we are happy to have a conversation with you about your specific project and can then advise on whether you should pursue an application for LEA funding. 

LEA has supported some early-stage strategic work, including initial masterplanning and scoping, but we are currently focused on supporting later-stage projects which will deliver in the next year or two. However, get in touch with us as more funding may be available in future to fund more strategic work.

LEA has an established framework of consultants which provide the expertise. Beneficiaries of LEA funding must carry out a mini competition from the framework and procure a consultant from this framework.

It is not a stipulation that you have capital funding in place when you apply for support through the LEA. However, you do need to know where that capital funding might come from, and this is one of the questions covered in the application process. The LEA Programme Delivery Unit (an expert team of consultants providing free and bespoke project management support) can also help you by advising on suitable external funding streams and help secure capital funding. The Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund (MEEF) is also available to secure capital funding.

LEA provides revenue-only funded expertise to support all London public and private sector organisations in the development of low carbon, decentralised energy projects. RA-W is focused on assisting beneficiary organisations to onboard delivery partners who will deliver renewable generation and energy efficiency interventions to decarbonise buildings. The two programmes can be used together when the projects are eligible for both LEA and RA-W support.

No, LEA only supports the development of projects which help generate energy from renewable sources, such as heat pumps and solar panels, or waste heat sources. It does not fund projects which only increase energy efficiency in existing buildings or heat networks. Another accelerator programme by the Mayor of London, the Retrofit Accelerator for Workplaces, can provide support for this if the support is needed for public sector buildings.

Yes, LEA always promotes the highest technical standards in the design of heat networks. In promoting best practice and efficient heat networks, the GLA has a heat network manual which includes the CP1 technical standards.

LEA can also fund a client engineer for projects to ensure specification standards are being met. 

LEA funding can support alongside other sources of funding but work done by LEA must be clearly identified for audit purposes –  i.e. the same overall piece of work cannot use LEA funding as match but it can fund bespoke tasks in their entirety.

LEA can support organisations in gaining capital funding, like the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) or Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES) and Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund (MEEF) e.g. in preparing a project for applications.

LEA has supported organisations in the development of Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) applications as long as the key outcome is to increase renewable energy capacity.

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