- Category
- General FE college
- Location
- Dudley, West Midlands
- DNO
- NGED (formerly WPD)
- Est. PV capacity
- 1.0-1.2 MW
About Dudley College
Dudley College of Technology operates as a Centre for Skills Excellence with multiple modern (post-2010) workshop campuses well-suited to rooftop solar. WMCA funding accessible.
The estate at Dudley
4-campus portfolio: Broadway main + Advance II + Construction Skills Centre + Dudley Sixth Form. Combined ~11,000 sqm with modern post-2010 builds across multiple campuses.
From a solar PV perspective this delivers 1.0-1.2 MW across the multi-campus portfolio. With 290 kW of daytime baseload typical, self-consumption stays around 68% — strong for the sector. The DNO for Dudley is NGED (formerly WPD).
Curriculum integration
T-Level Construction (Dudley Advance Skills Centre is a flagship), T-Level Engineering, Building Services, Digital. Strong apprenticeship throughput.
Funding stack for Dudley
Salix + WMCA decarbonisation + PSDS Phase 4 bundled across the multi-campus portfolio. Estimated capex £950k-£1.15m.
Detailed funding-route deep-dives:
- Salix Decarbonisation Loan — Salix has no scheme open for England (checked 20 October 2026); Scottish and Welsh loans are open
- PSDS Phase 4 capital grant — Phase 4 closed to new applications in November 2024; no further phase announced
- FE Capital Transformation Fund — embedded sustainability in major refurb
- MCA decarbonisation grants — devolved regional funding
- Climate Action Plan compliance for Dudley College colleges — board-approved Climate Action Plan compliance pathway
- ONS reclassification for FE colleges — the November 2022 reclassification of FE colleges into central government
- Interactive payback calculator — model the specific Dudley College scenario
Estimated economics (illustrative model)
For a 1100 kW programme at Dudley, modelled economics assuming standard portfolio-scale unit cost (£800/kW installed at this scale):
- Capital cost: approximately £880,000
- Annual generation: approximately 982,080 kWh
- Annual energy savings: approximately £192,094 (at typical FE blended tariff)
- Modelled simple payback (illustrative, before any funding): approximately 4.6 years
- 25-year nominal net benefit (before degradation and inflation): approximately £3,922,350
These are scoping figures — a precise feasibility report requires 12 months of Dudley's half-hourly meter data. See our interactive payback calculator to adjust the assumptions for your specific scenario.