This project provides dedicated support and a source of funding for eligible businesses to reduce their energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Through the Low Carbon Project, you could:
- reduce your energy costs
- make your business more competitive, resilient and productive
- potentially safeguard and create jobs through improved profitability and reinvestment of savings
- become a more environmentally friendly business by reducing carbon emissions
The Low Carbon project has received £1,698,999 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Sheffield City Council is the Lead Authority for the South Yorkshire region.
Eligibility to take part in the project
To be eligible to take part in the project your business must:
- be a Small or Medium Sized Enterprise (SME), meaning 250 employees or fewer, with a turnover of less than £36 million
- have commercial premises in Sheffield – the scheme cannot support home-based businesses
- not have received more than £315,000 Minimal Financial Assistance subsidy over the last 3 years
- be able to provide 12 months' energy bills to establish baseline energy use (or however many months you’ve been in your premises, if less than 12 months)
What you'll receive
You'll receive the following if you meet the eligiblity criteria.
One-to-one support from an advisor
Our advisors will guide you through every stage of the process. They will:
- help you understand your energy usage and identify where you could save energy
- refer you for an Energy Audit or prepare a bespoke Energy Recommendations Report
- support you to develop and deliver a plan for your energy saving improvements
- support you to understand your options for funding improvements, including whether you could be eligible to apply for a Low Carbon Grant
- signpost you to other sources of support available to help you reduce your carbon footprint
Free energy survey
You'll get a free energy survey of your business, to establish how much energy you use now, as well as how you could save energy.
The report will identify energy saving improvements the business could invest in and provide a detailed breakdown of the carbon saving, cost, and return on investment for each, so you can decide what’s the right path to take.
Depending on the outcome of the energy survey, you may then be able to access a Low Carbon Grant to part-fund energy saving improvements. Your business will need to meet additional criteria in order to qualify for a grant.
Low Carbon Grant scheme
The project includes a grant scheme which contributes to the cost of energy-saving improvements.
The grant will part-fund improvements, with the business making up the rest of the funding itself. The funding is allocated as follows:
- For projects costing up to £20,000 you can apply for a 50% grant contribution
- For projects costing more than £20,000 you can apply for a grant contribution of £10,000
The minimum grant you can apply for is £1,500 (for a project where the total cost is £3,000).
How to qualify for a grant
In order to qualify for a grant, your business must meet the following criteria:
- the improvements must be identified in an energy survey and deliver a net carbon reduction
- this must be the first SPF Low Carbon Grant your business has received
- we can only support capital projects that have a return on investment of more than 1 year
- the investment must be set to complete by December 2025
- tenants must have the permission of their landlord to make changes to the building fabric
What we're not able to support
We're not able to fund:
- working capital or operational costs
- electric vehicles
Get in touch
To find out more, including whether you qualify for support, please contact Business Sheffield at [email protected].
The UKSPF Low Carbon Project operates across South Yorkshire. If your business is based in Barnsley, Doncaster or Rotherham rather than Sheffield, please contact your local authority's business support team for assistance:
- Business Doncaster on 01302 735555 and at [email protected]
- Enterprising Barnsley at [email protected]
- Rotherham Investment and Development Office on 01709 331111 and at [email protected]
Please note that eligibility criteria may differ slightly between local authorities. The criteria above are for Sheffield only.
