Coventry City Council is set to appoint a strategic energy partner to help tackle the causes and consequences of climate change.
The Council's Draft Climate Change Strategy and Net Zero Routemap, published earlier this year, set out an ambitious vision for the city's journey to net zero to create a more sustainable and prosperous future for local people.
To achieve this, major long-term planning and investment is required to decarbonise the city through a wide range of environmental and socially beneficial projects.
Working collaboratively with a single partner over 15 years will help long-term planning and see a joined-up approach to plans across the city.
Cllr Jim O'Boyle, Cabinet member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, said: "The Council has a critical role to play, and will continue to do so, but we don't have the money, expertise or resources to do it alone. Appointing a Strategic Energy Partner will help us to develop and deliver an extensive programme of projects that will generate significant environmental, social, and economic benefits for the whole city.
"We expect the partnership to bring hundreds of millions pounds of private sector investment to Coventry, helping to create local jobs, tackle the green skills gap through working with the local supply chain, businesses and educational institutions. Projects will also help to generate and supply energy, tackle fuel poverty, deliver energy security, create cleaner air and promote health and wellbeing.
"This is a major step and we will become the first city in the UK to take such positive action. This is going to have benefits for all of our communities, our businesses, our residents – the entire city."Work through this partnership will include the creation of a 30MW solar farm, deliver solar into schools, decarbonisation of our Council vehicles and depots, and it will give us energy security across the city to make the city more resilient. It will have a keen focus on delivering social value in our city with every decision the partnership makes.
"The benefits of these projects will be significant and together with our new partner we will continue to drive the green revolution cementing the work we have already done in areas such as electric cars and buses, Coventry Very Light Rail, cycleways and so much more."
The Strategic Energy Partner will be named this autumn, and will initially develop five key projects, along with at least three major decarbonisation projects every year for the next 15 years.
The plan follows consultation over the Council's Climate Change Strategy, when 80% of respondents described climate change as an important issue and said they wanted the Council to take action – particularly around the issues of transport and home energy efficiency, which combined are the city's two biggest sources of carbon emissions.
Currently, over 20% of the population is in fuel poverty.
Two and a half full-time employees will be appointed from our existing team by the Council to support the work.
Plans will be discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet on 29 August, and at Council on 5 September.