The Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund (‘MEEF’), managed by Amber Fund Management Limited (‘Amber Infrastructure’), has provided debt funding to Westminster City Council (‘Westminster’) for two carbon reduction projects. This includes partial funding for the conversion of Westminster’s street cleansing fleet from diesel vehicles to electric and Westminster’s streetlighting upgrade to LEDs, both key priorities for the Council.
The first loan is for £8m and finances 34 (out of 100) electric street cleansing vehicles. These are to be operated by Veolia, Westminster’s environmental partner, across the Borough and will replace the existing fleet of diesel vehicles. The project supports Westminster’s carbon reduction strategy and air quality objectives as highlighted in the Fairer Westminster Delivery Plan whilst strongly aligning with the London Mayor’s transport strategy. Overall converting the Westminster fleet from diesel to electric is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by 1,300 tonnes per annum.
The second loan is for £2.4m which part finances an LED streetlighting rollout as part of a wider ongoing LED workstream by Westminster. This investment enables the electrification of lighting and improvements to electrical efficiency for 2,385 street lighting units across the Borough, providing strong energy and carbon reductions as well as local air and outdoor environment quality improvements.
Both MEEF investments crowded in third party capital from NatWest alongside funding from Westminster directly.
These two projects follow MEEF’s £12m loan to Westminster, as announced in July 2023, to partly finance 45 new electric refuse collection vehicles and charging infrastructure. This initiative will benefit residents by reducing vehicle noise, cutting air pollution and drastically reducing the Borough’s carbon emissions.
Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Cabinet Member for City Management and Air Quality, Westminster said: "Westminster City Council has ambitious targets for the city to reach net zero emissions by 2040 and the Mayor's Energy Efficiency Fund is helping us to achieve this goal. With the help of the Mayor's Energy Efficiency Fund, we have been able to invest heavily in electric vehicle technology and now 50% of our waste collection vehicles are zero emission EVs. And the Fund has helped us to upgrade our street light infrastructure to increase energy efficiency and ensure our streets remain safe. We are delighted that the Mayor's Energy Efficiency Fund is contributing to a net zero Westminster and a greener city for our residents."
Pete Radford, Director of the MEEF, said: "Being able to support Westminster deliver these two projects is fantastic news for MEEF. The investments will reduce CO2 emissions by over 1,650 tonnes per annum as well as improve air quality across the borough. We are looking forward to working with Westminster and their partners to successfully deliver these projects."
Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy said: “We are delighted to support Westminster Council's carbon reduction projects with funding from the Mayor’s Energy Efficiency Fund. Switching from diesel to electric vehicles will help to improve the air in central London and the LED street lighting will also accelerate carbon reductions. We all need to work together if we are to reach net zero carbon by 2030 and this funding will help Westminster reach this goal as we all build a greener, better London for everyone.”
Since launching in July 2018, MEEF has mobilised over £420m of funding for net zero project across the Capital, saving c.32,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and reduced energy usage by over 40 GWh.
Please contact MEEF (meefinfo@amberinfrastructure.com) to discuss a potential application further.
Further information on MEEF can be found at: www.meef.co.uk
Further information on Amber Infrastructure can be found at: www.amberinfrastructure.com
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About MEEF
MEEF will provide a mixture of senior debt, mezzanine debt and equity to London’s public-sector property owners and small-to-medium-sized businesses, including but not exclusively, Local Authorities, NHS Trusts, Registered Providers, Higher and Further Education organisations, Charities and Voluntary Organisations, ESCOs and SMEs. MEEF can fund both up to 100% of the capital cost of a project and part-fund large-scale regeneration projects which demonstrate low-carbon credentials.
About Amber Infrastructure Group
Amber Infrastructure (‘Amber’) is a specialist international investment manager, focused on investment origination, asset management and fund management. With c.€5bn in funds under management, Amber invests across eight funds and a number of managed accounts.
Amber’s core business focuses on sourcing, developing, advising, investing in and managing infrastructure assets across the public, transport, energy, digital and demographic infrastructure sectors that support the lives of people, homes and businesses internationally.
Amber is headquartered in London with offices in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Amber employs over 180 infrastructure professionals globally and manages over 175 investments.
About European Regional Development Fund
The project is receiving up to £73.6m of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding