Private equity backs Green Investment Bank

Simon Walker, BVCA's chief executive, has confirmed the body's interest in seeing rising private sector investment in Britain's renewable energy sector.

The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) has lent its support to plans for a new UK Green Investment Bank.

It comes after a commission led by former Merrill Lynch chairman Bob Wigley urged the government to set up the bank within the next six months as a means of funding Britain's low-carbon future.

The Green Investment Bank Commission observed that the scale of investment required to meet UK climate change and renewable energy targets is unprecedented, with the total bill over the next 20 years reaching a possible £1 trillion.

It therefore named the Carbon Trust, the Energy Technologies Institute and the low-carbon wing of the Technology Strategy Board as three quangos with an annual budget of £185 million that could be folded into a Green Investment Bank.

In addition, the commission referred to six government funds that have also been "initially identified" for rationalisation.

Backing the plan, BVCA chief executive Simon Walker said: "This marks the next step in implementing a well-designed Green Investment Bank that will facilitate and accelerate private sector investment and build public support for reaching Britain's low-carbon, renewable energy and energy security targets."

Meanwhile, Gregory Barker, minister of state for climate change, confirmed the coalition's commitment to a Green Investment Bank ahead of the government's Comprehensive Spending Review this autumn.