A scheme which will see solar panels placed on the roofs of hundreds of schools and hospitals could be expanded to include religious buildings, Ed Miliband has suggested.
The Energy Secretary told the Commons he is “enthusiastic” about widening the scope of Great British Energy’s first major project, following an influx of requests to do so.
A £200 million investment to put rooftop solar on schools and NHS sites was announced by the Government earlier this year, with the aim of saving hundreds of millions of pounds on energy bills and to free up cash to reinvest in frontline services.
Councils and community groups will also receive funding to build local clean power projects, such as community-owned onshore wind, rooftop solar and hydropower in rivers, as part of the scheme.
Speaking during a statement on climate and nature, Labour MP Sarah Owen (Luton North) said “there is a huge part of our communities, the faith communities” who want to “tackle” the climate and nature crisis.
She added: “So while we welcome Great British Energy’s roll out of solar panels on hospitals and on schools, could he outline any support for religious buildings that also want to do the same?”
Mr Miliband replied: “Following the successful roll out to schools and hospitals, we’ve now got a lot of requests to expand this scheme, and I’m very enthusiastic about doing so, and it’s something we’re looking at.”
Under the scheme, around £80 million will support 200 schools and £100 million will go to 200 NHS sites in England.
Scotland will get £4.85 million, Wales £2.88 million and Northern Ireland £1.62 million for power projects including community energy and rooftop solar for public buildings.
During the statement on Monday, Mr Miliband also pledged to deal with the “grid zombies”.
This came in response to Labour MP Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth), who asked: “What steps is the Energy Secretary making to prioritise grid connections, and will he commit to reforming the grid queuing system so that projects essential to decarbonise our transport sector are brought forward more quickly?”
He replied: “We are dealing with the zombies, the grid zombies, the zombie queue, and that reordering of the queue is precisely designed to open up the queue to projects like the ones she talked about.
“And my honourable friend, the energy minister, is having a series of round tables with DfT (Department for Transport) on precisely this subject.”
