Asked by: Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding they are providing to support initiatives such as the Solar Hospital Innovation for Energy Leasing Demonstrator project to provide power for healthcare in Africa.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Solar Hospital Innovation project was funded by DSIT through UKRI’s Energy Catalyst programme, as part of the up to £1 billion Ayrton Fund for clean energy innovation. DSIT provided £298,497 in funding for this project, alongside £79,343 in matched funding from local sources. This contributes to the wider Ayrton Challenge on Inclusive Energy and Leave No-One Behind. The installed 228KW solar system provided 158MW of clean energy over six months, displacing around 100 tonnes of CO2. This will save the hospital $75,000 per year which has been reallocated to a cancer drugs fund.
Asked by: Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the positive impacts on health and the energy transition of initiatives such as the Solar Hospital Innovation for Energy Leasing Demonstrator project.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Solar Hospital Innovation project was funded by DSIT through UKRI’s Energy Catalyst programme, as part of the up to £1 billion Ayrton Fund for clean energy innovation. DSIT provided £298,497 in funding for this project, alongside £79,343 in matched funding from local sources. This contributes to the wider Ayrton Challenge on Inclusive Energy and Leave No-One Behind. The installed 228KW solar system provided 158MW of clean energy over six months, displacing around 100 tonnes of CO2. This will save the hospital $75,000 per year which has been reallocated to a cancer drugs fund.
Asked by: Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will announce a new funding round for the Energy Catalyst programme.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DSIT’s departmental-level ODA allocation was confirmed by the Chancellor in June’s Spring Statement. The full detail of DSIT's spending plans from 2026 April are still being considered. We are unable to confirm whether a new funding round will be announced for the Energy Catalyst Programme. We expect to be in a position to provide further information on what activities DSIT’s ODA will support later on this year.