Investors and partners are invited to help shape Brighton & Hove’s proposed Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) and deliver low carbon, affordable energy across the city.
The Brighton & Hove’s SEP prospectus sets out the opportunity for a new kind of partnership between the public and private sector and is inviting feedback from the market to shape the city’s plans.
Councillor Tim Rowkins, Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for Net Zero, said: “With a defined pipeline of capital projects, we are seeking a strategic partnership that can accelerate delivery, unlock innovation, and create long-term value for both the city and its investment partners.
“Brighton & Hove has some of the best conditions for investment in the UKin the UK and is part of Sussex Energy and its mission to achieve net zero energy status across the region by 2040.
“We were among the first councils to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency, and we are determined to decarbonise our buildings and transport at both pace and scale.”
The SEP will provide multiple opportunities to invest, collaborate and grow. Through mixed asset bundling, it will generate investment opportunities, including heat networks, electric vehicle (EV) charging, building retrofit, rooftop solar and a solar farm.
Underrepresented in traditional infrastructure portfolios due to fragmentation, these emerging infrastructure classes have long-term growth potential but are harder to access without intermediaries such as local authorities.
The strategic energy partnership aims to enable proprietary deal flow (capturing significant market share), reputational leadership and co-investment opportunities.
Brighton & Hove City Council is open to a wide range of partnership models. Through preliminary market engagement, potential partners will be able to shape the design of the new partnership, with a view to launching a full procurement process later this year.
Major investment opportunities include:
A 10-hectare solar farm site on council land in the north of the city.
A large-scale heat network for the city centre, which is expected to be designated as a heat network zone under upcoming regulation.
Heat pump installations, where Brighton & Hove presents a strong market opportunity. The 2024 Decarbonisation Pathways Study identified 33,300 private sector homes suitable for heat pump installation without major retrofit, with over one third currently dependent on expensive, direct electric heating.
Further expansion of the EV public charging network, particularly ultra rapid charging hubs at the edge of the city, and private fleet depot EVI, with the SEP potentially assuming responsibility for planning and investment decisions.
Rooftop solar generation: The city’s rooftops create a unique opportunity for large-scale solar deployment. As one of the UK’s sunniest cities, Brighton & Hove offers optimal conditions, with sufficient capacity in the local grid to accommodate significant additional solar connections.
Brighton & Hove is also keen to explore how an SEP could enhance existing retrofit programmes, how it might improve the business case for decarbonising heating and hot water services, increase renewable generation capacity and bill savings on council-owned homes, and accelerate delivery of net zero.
Partnering at a pivotal time for the UK energy transition
The preliminary market engagement has been timed to align with major developments regionally and nationally that have the potential to support energy decarbonisation in the city.
The rollout of the UK Government’s Local Power Plan, with its focus on communityscale renewables, supply chain investment and locally owned clean power by 2030, provides a timely national framework within which the council can accelerate delivery of local energy projects.
At the same time, the Government’s £15 billion Warm Homes Plan will unlock funding for wholebuilding retrofit, and forthcoming changes to Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) will raise energy-efficiency requirements, creating a regulatory driver for investment.
Through devolution, the Sussex & Brighton Combined County Authority will become a powerful driver to support the region’s energy ambitions, with new devolved powers, longterm investment funding, and responsibilities over infrastructure, skills and heat network planning.
Read the prospectus and additional information on Brighton & Hove’s website.
