- Category
- General FE college
- Location
- West Bromwich, West Midlands
- DNO
- NGED (formerly WPD)
- Est. PV capacity
- 900 kW
About Sandwell College
Sandwell College serves a high-deprivation catchment with strong widening-participation agenda. Central Campus building already BREEAM Excellent; solar PV is the next sustainability layer. WMCA + Sandwell Council funding routes accessible.
The estate at Sandwell
Central Campus West Bromwich (2011 new build, BREEAM Excellent) + Smethwick Campus + Construction Skills Centre. Combined ~10,500 sqm with notable modern STEM provision.
From a solar PV perspective this delivers 900 kW - 1.1 MW potential. With 270 kW of daytime baseload typical, self-consumption stays around 66% — strong for the sector. The DNO for Sandwell is NGED (formerly WPD).
Curriculum integration
T-Level Construction, Engineering, Health, Digital, Building Services. Modern Central Campus building integrates well with rooftop PV due to membrane roof + low shading.
Funding stack for Sandwell
Salix + WMCA + PSDS Phase 4 + potential Sandwell Council climate fund. Estimated portfolio capex £870k-£1.05m.
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
- AoC Climate Action Roadmap implementation — board-approved Climate Action Plan compliance pathway
- November 2022 ONS reclassification — the November 2022 reclassification of FE colleges into central government
- Interactive payback model — model the specific Sandwell College scenario
Estimated economics (illustrative model)
For a 450550 kW programme at Sandwell, modelled economics assuming standard portfolio-scale unit cost (£800/kW installed at this scale):
- Capital cost: approximately £360,440,000
- Annual generation: approximately 402,251,040 kWh
- Annual energy savings: approximately £77,312,649 (at typical FE blended tariff)
- Modelled simple payback (illustrative, before any funding): approximately 4.7 years
- 25-year nominal net benefit (before degradation and inflation): approximately £1,572,376,225
These are scoping figures — a precise feasibility report requires 12 months of Sandwell's half-hourly meter data. See our interactive payback calculator to adjust the assumptions for your specific scenario.