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The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) and fund manager Equitix have agreed a £24.5 million investment to finance the installation of biomass boilers at Bernard Matthews’ turkey farms.
The project will see 179 biomass boilers installed across 21 farms in Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire, creating up to 51 jobs and nine permanent positions.
The Equitix managed fund, Energy Saving Investments (ESI), in which GIB is the cornerstone investor, has invested £12 million into the project, and this is coupled with £12.5 million of private sector capital from the Equitix Energy Efficiency Fund (EEEF).
Shaun Kingsbury, chief executive at GIB, said: “Across the UK, GIB is starting to see some excellent examples, from farsighted companies, of the commercial benefits that come from investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy generation.
“These benefits can be significant, especially for energy intensive industries, including many parts of the farming industry.”
David Joll, executive chairman at Bernard Matthews, said: “Sustainability is central to our long term business strategy.
“We’re already generating a large proportion of our energy needs from other renewable sources including solar and wind and with the addition of biomass boilers on our farms, we’re well placed to be generating 100 per cent of our energy sustainably by 2016.”
Business secretary Vince Cable added: “We set up the UK Green Investment Bank to kick start investment in renewable energy technology like this.
“Bernard Matthews has seen that energy efficiency makes good business sense and I am confident that more companies will follow.”
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