The project you have entered
The RSPB has ongoing sustainability targets which have proved difficult to fund through our usual donative income model. For the Renewable Energy Project, we set up a new finance deal with Triodos Bank to help install renewable energy initiatives across our nature reserves.
The successful outcomes of the project
This project has:
- installed over 700 solar panels at seven nature reserves
- fitted a new biomass boiler
- deployed energy efficient LED lighting across ten locations
It is expected that the solar panels will provide up to 80% of the sites’ annual energy requirements (approx. 10% of the energy the RSPB uses in total each year), saving a significant sum on its energy bill, as well as providing income from subsidies and selling energy back to the grid.
The innovative approaches used
This project marks a significant step for the RSPB as it is the first time the organisation has used debt finance to support funding our work. As acquiring external investment was innovative to RSPB, Trustees requested final approval.
Consequently, the development phase was extended, and additional project controls were implemented to give Trustees confidence in the quality of the delivery process.
