Public sector organisations across the UK have together saved a guaranteed £7.4 million and cut over 15,000 tonnes of carbon each year through their partnerships with Vital Energi on the RE:FIT framework. The news comes as Vital Energi celebrates its recent appointment to the latest RE:FIT 5 term.
Since first joining RE:FIT in 2016, Vital Energi has delivered more than £100 million of decarbonisation work across over 30 projects for local authorities, NHS Trusts and universities across the UK, with financial and carbon savings independently verified throughout each contract and actual performance typically exceeding guaranteed targets. Work delivered under the framework spans LED lighting, rooftop solar and solar farms, battery energy storage systems, heat pumps and building management system upgrades.
That range is reflected in three of the programme’s longest-running projects.
- Swansea Bay University Health Board: Now four phases into a programme spanning energy conservation measures, solar generation and battery storage since 2019, saving over £1.5m a year and cutting carbon by 3,797 tonnes each year.
- Westminster City Council: Delivering a £23 million programme with Vital Energi across 183 separate projects, including the replacement of almost 10,000 light fittings, now among the largest RE:FIT schemes delivered anywhere in the country.
- Aberystwyth University: Now in its fourth phase of work with Vital Energi, delivering energy performance upgrades across 20 campus buildings including a 2.5MW solar farm and heat pumps, with its first two phases alone representing around £6 million of investment and 1,558 tonnes of carbon saved a year.
Developed by the Greater London Authority and supported across England and Wales by Local Partnerships, RE:FIT allows public bodies to procure energy efficiency and low carbon generation projects through a pre-approved panel of energy service companies, avoiding the need for lengthy individual tender processes.
RE:FIT 5 introduces a direct award route to speed up procurement for public bodies, alongside a requirement for delivery partners to develop investment proposals to RIBA Stage 4. For the first time, the framework also gives social value a formal role in every project, covering everything from local employment to community investment – work Vital Energi already carries out across its RE:FIT projects.
Des Keighan, Assistant Director at Swansea Bay University Health Board, said: “The RE:FIT framework is ideal for organisations that want to achieve decarbonisation quickly, whilst guaranteeing rapid payback. The fact that carbon and financial savings are guaranteed reduces risk and gives clients confidence in the success of the project. What Vital has done, in partnership with us and others, is to demonstrate that not only can organisations take big steps towards net zero through the RE:FIT framework, but those measures will pay for themselves.”
Scott Lutton, National Operations Director at Vital Energi, said: “Public sector organisations are being asked to deliver more with less, while continuing to improve services and accelerate progress towards net zero. RE:FIT 5 offers a proven, low-risk route to delivering decarbonisation projects that reduce costs, improve buildings for the people who use them every day and create lasting social value; from Climate Education sessions at local schools through to local job creation. Having supported more than 30 individual projects through the framework over the past decade, we’re proud to continue helping councils, NHS trusts and universities progress their decarbonisation ambitions for their communities.”
