1.6 MW Portfolio Programme Across an 8-Campus FE Group Corporation
- System size
- 1,610 kW + 500 kWh battery across multiple sites
- Annual saving
- £305,000
- Payback
- 5.2 years
- Location
- North West & Yorkshire
Scenario
An FE group corporation operating 8 campuses across the North West and Yorkshire — two flagship 12,000 sqm main teaching blocks, four mid-size 6,500–9,000 sqm general FE campuses, and two 2,500 sqm adult and community education annexes — faced a group-wide electricity bill of £4.2m in 2025. The corporation board approved a Climate Action Plan in spring 2026 with a 60% scope-2 reduction commitment by 2032, ahead of the AoC Climate Action Roadmap end-2025 mandate.
The newly appointed Group Sustainability Director — formerly Group Estates Director, with a year of CPD on net zero strategy — led a portfolio feasibility commission. Tendered May 2025; appointed July 2025.
What we delivered
Total programme: 1,610 kW PV across 8 campuses, plus 500 kWh distributed battery storage and EV charging integration on three sites.
| Campus | Building footprint | System size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flagship 1 (North West) | 12,000 sqm | 320 kW | Main teaching block + sports hall |
| Flagship 2 (Yorkshire) | 12,000 sqm | 290 kW | Main block + workshop annex |
| Mid 1 | 9,000 sqm | 220 kW | Mixed-use teaching + workshop |
| Mid 2 | 8,500 sqm | 200 kW | Sixth form-style centre |
| Mid 3 | 7,200 sqm | 200 kW | Engineering and motor vehicle |
| Mid 4 | 6,500 sqm | 180 kW | Construction and trades workshop |
| Annex 1 | 2,500 sqm | 95 kW | ACE delivery centre |
| Annex 2 | 2,500 sqm | 75 kW | Adult and family learning |
Battery storage: 500 kWh distributed across the two flagship campuses (250 kWh each). EV charging integration on the two flagships and one mid-size campus.
Funding structure
Blended Salix + PSDS to maximise capital recovery at portfolio scale:
- Salix Decarbonisation Loan (70%): £917,000 over 10 years at £92,000/year repayment. Salix accepted a single bid for the whole portfolio, with energy savings calculations rolled up at the group level and a single corporation board approval minute.
- PSDS Phase 4 (30%): £393,000 capital grant — paired with air-source heat pump installs on three of the campuses, funded under the same PSDS bid. The combined heat-plus-PV portfolio scored in the top 8% of Phase 4 bids in the round.
- Total project capex: £1,310,000 at £815/kW — portfolio-scale unit cost
- Modelled annual group-wide energy savings: £305,000
- Net cash-flow positive year one: £213,000/year
The Group Director of Finance later commented that the single-bid Salix approach saved the team an estimated 4-5 months of paperwork that would otherwise have been required across 8 separate campus-by-campus applications.
Programme phasing
Three summer break windows for the full portfolio:
- Summer 2026 (window 1): Flagship 1 + Annex 1 + Mid 4 (3 sites)
- Summer 2027 (window 2): Flagship 2 + Mid 1 + Mid 3 (3 sites)
- Summer 2028 (window 3): Mid 2 + Annex 2 + battery commissioning at flagships + EV infrastructure (2 sites + integration work)
No campus had more than 6 weeks of disruption to one summer’s apprentice EPAs, T-Level synoptic blocks, or A-level exams. Group-wide academic calendar visibility was set up at contract signature.
Compliance
- KCSIE 2025 safeguarding induction at every campus; DBS-cleared crews throughout
- ESFA Post-16 Audit Code — group-level capital reporting accommodating the portfolio programme
- Listed Building Consent on one of the mid-size campuses (Grade II main building inherited under incorporation) — added 12 weeks to that campus’s timeline; managed within the wider phasing
- G99 DNO applications across 8 campuses in parallel — coordinated through a single DNO liaison
- Asbestos R&D survey on every pre-2000 building; one campus required Type 3 enclosed protocols on three roof penetrations
- Skills England transition (June 2025) — project rationale formally tied to T-Level Green Skills curriculum delivery across all 8 campuses
Outcomes
- Year one (campuses commissioned by end of summer 2026): generation 6% above design model; energy savings 8% above model thanks to higher-than-modelled self-consumption rates from concurrent T-Level Construction and Engineering workshop expansion
- Featured in the AoC annual conference as case study — keynote panel session
- Group-wide live-generation dashboard live at the group head office and at every campus reception
- T-Level Green Skills cohorts across all 8 campuses ran joint synoptic projects on the install data — a coordinated curriculum initiative that won the group a Skills England innovation award
- Group apprenticeship marketing referenced the install in 2027 prospectus
- Phase 2 conversations opened on adding solar to the remaining two campuses (acquired post-feasibility) in 2028-29
What the Group Sustainability Director said
“At group scale the unit economics simply work. Portfolio-scale procurement got us to £815/kW installed where single-site work would have been £950/kW or higher. One Salix bid covered everything — saved my team 5 months of paperwork. One DNO liaison ran 8 G99 applications in parallel. One commissioning protocol applied across the whole portfolio. We could have done this campus by campus and it would have taken 4 years. Doing it as a group programme it took 30 months from first call to last commissioning.”