Severn Wye Energy Agency has helped hundreds of Gloucestershire SMEs to save money and carbon over the past six years, rolling out energy efficiency support and improvements as part of its six-year-long Target 2030 scheme.
The £2.2 million EU-funded programme, which ran from January 2017 to June 2023, will reportedly save more than £20 million for small businesses across Gloucestershire, helping them to withstand rising energy prices while reducing their carbon emissions.
Over the past six years, business energy specialists from Severn Wye have carried out site surveys and delivered bespoke advice to all kinds of local businesses — from global manufacturers and big-name retailers to sports centres and community-run venues.
Businesses were provided with advisory reports, including recommendations about no- and low-cost actions to make their operations more energy efficient and information on related savings and payback periods — empowering them to make fully-informed decisions about their next steps and long-term plans.
Target 2030 was also able to provide a 30 per cent grant towards installation costs, making energy efficiency improvements more accessible for businesses that wouldn't have otherwise considered them.
Figures show that Gloucestershire businesses which took part in the scheme between 2017 and 2023 invested a massive £3.6 million in energy efficiency measures — returning almost £1 million annual savings, amounting to £20.4 million over the life of the measures installed.
Their efforts also saved a whopping 3,770 tonnes of CO2 every year, which is roughly equivalent to the average emissions of nearly 1,200 Gloucestershire homes.
Sandy Ruthven, CEO of Severn Wye, said: 'Target 2030 has been ground-breaking in its impact across the region, at a time when the cost of energy has threatened the very future of some SMEs.
'The range of measures our experts were able to recommend meant every organisation could take some steps towards improved energy efficiency, even if they decided the time wasn’t right for major investments.
'Over the six years of the scheme we’ve seen not just measurable financial and carbon-reduction gains but also increased interest in sustainability generally and its importance for the bottom line.’
