Second round of ambitious Welsh Government green scheme is announced to help tackle climate change

A successful green scheme aimed at further and higher education is being continued into a second round thanks to Welsh Government.

Welsh Government has announced a further £10m for Digarbon, the decarbonisation fund for tertiary education in Wales.

The latest round delivered by our teams at Salix, will open for applications in May 2025 to support decarbonisation projects in the Welsh higher and further education sectors setting them on the road to net zero. 

Digarbon, which means decarbonise, is loan funding to help drive the public sector to achieving net zero emissions.

"This additional £10m of loan funding for the higher and further education sectors will help in our collective response to the climate and nature emergencies. Not only will the energy savings produced by these projects help drive forward our decarbonisation ambitions but also reduce costs for the organisations.” Huw Irranca-Davies, Deputy First Minister with responsibility for Climate Change

Digarbon, which means decarbonise, is loan funding to help drive the public sector to achieving net zero emissions.

Further information and supporting documentation including Guidance Notes and the application form will be published in April 2025. 

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Vikki Howells added: “I’m so proud of the work our further and higher education institutions are doing to tackle climate change, and this funding will further contribute to the longer-term sustainability of universities.

“I have seen the fantastic work already being achieved with this funding and as a government we are committed to helping the sector to reduce costs and emissions by reducing energy consumption.”

Our teams at Salix will hold a series of three webinars giving people a chance to ask questions about the new round of Digarbon funding. The webinar dates will be published next month alongside the Digarbon Guidance Notes and other documents.

Under the Digarbon fund, a range of technologies will continue to be eligible including the installation of low carbon heating systems and retrofit energy efficiency measures. A ‘whole building’ approach will be encouraged, aimed at reducing the overall energy demand of a building. Renewable energy, electric vehicles and EV charging infrastructure will also be eligible for funding in combination with heat decarbonisation measures.

The first round of the scheme was launched with Digarbon Guidance Notes in May 2024 and opened to applications in July 2024. 

The Digarbon initiative addresses the need to prepare the Welsh public sector for achieving net zero emissions, as laid out in Net zero carbon status by 2030: A route map for decarbonisation across the Welsh public sector.

Please keep an eye on our website for the latest information and subscribe to email updates

In the meantime, for any questions about Digarbon or other Wales programmes, please get in touch with our Wales team at wales@salixfinance.co.uk