Supporting the transition to a greener economy

FW & RJ Simcock is a dairy farm in Herefordshire with 600 milking cows. Established for 40 years, it has invested in improvements that not only improve energy efficiency, but also create a better environment for the cattle.

With the help of a loan from us, the farm has installed a new milk robot system that’s expected to be approximately 30% more efficient than the previous system on an energy expended-per litre of milk basis.

Environmental benefits of the new system compared to the existing milking parlour and infrastructure include reduced water use and replacing red diesel with electricity. These are expected to reduce labour and produce energy savings too.

The farm is a long-standing Lloyds Bank customer. It secured £900k in funding for the improvements under our Clean Growth Finance Initiative, which offers discounted finance to Commercial Banking clients investing in a lower carbon future.

One of the ways we help consumers to tackle climate change is to recommend improvements to the energy efficiency of their homes, and helping them finance the changes. In 2020 we launched our free online Home Energy Saving Tool.

The tool helps people see how a few changes can make their home more environmentally friendly, and estimates how much money and carbon emissions they could save in the long term by making the improvements. The tool has shown over 8,000 customers how they can improve the efficiency of their homes. After getting their report, customers can also take up our Green Living Reward, which gives them £500 cashback to help pay for the changes.

Lex Autolease, the UK’s largest vehicle contract hire provider, has supported the Co-op with its drive to significantly reduce its company vehicle emissions by replacing petrol and diesel cars with electric vehicles (EVs), reducing the average vehicle CO2 per km by 47%. Since launching the new sustainable policy in March 2020, Co-op has incentivised its choice list to encourage drivers to opt for greener vehicles, ordering 275 ULEVs to replace the current traditionally fuelled vehicles on its fleet. 62% of these new vehicles were delivered during 2020, alongside 35 pure EVs.

HRJ Properties is an example of seizing the opportunities presented by the green economy while creating a range of environmental benefits and jobs for local people. This is a £350,000 renewable heat project funded by our Clean Growth Finance Initiative, which provides discounted lending to help businesses invest in reducing their environmental impact, and also benefits from the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (RHI).

The Dogger Bank Wind Farm represents an initiative that encompasses all three objectives: good for the planet, good for business and good for the economy. SSE Renewables, which is working alongside Norwegian energy firm Equinor to develop the new Dogger Bank Wind Farm, will be funded to support the installation of wind turbines across the first two phases of construction, with the 18TWh farm expected to begin generating power from 2023. 190 turbines are planned for this phase of the project. Once complete, Dogger Bank is expected to provide renewable energy for up to six million British homes.

Through our Scottish Widows brand, we invest part of the proceeds received from annuity customers by making long-term loans to commercial clients to fund key projects which help to support the transition to a more sustainable future. Since 2018 the Scottish Widows annuity fund has advanced over £400 million to support green initiatives across the UK. In December, Scottish Widows lent over £200 million for two major projects – one providing specialist homeless accommodation and the other investing in renewable energy. The second involved advancing £96 million to one of the largest operators of small-scale, onshore wind turbine sites in the UK. The 17-year loan funds 185 onshore wind turbines spread over 132 locations across the UK – with capacity to power around 15,000 homes.