Nolden Colin, Fox Sean, Melville Emilia, Sugar Katherine, Mose Tedd Moya, Bird Caroline, Nicholls Jack
University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
UK Energy Research Centre, London, UK.
Energy Effic. 2025;18(6):54. doi: 10.1007/s12053-025-10346-w. Epub 2025 Jul 1.
Following over a decade and a half of austerity measures, and with costs of delivering statutory duties soaring, UK local authorities' resources and capabilities to deliver net zero are diminishing. Decarbonisation funding provided by central government, meanwhile, is awarded competitively. To secure long-term, place-based net zero investments under these unfavourable circumstances, UK local authorities are increasingly turning to public procurement. A prominent example is Bristol City Leap, a Joint Venture Company procured by Bristol City Council between 2018 and 2022 to deliver around £1bn of investment in energy infrastructure and service delivery over 20 years through a concession agreement. Drawing on workshops and interviews with key stakeholders and experts, this paper examines the risks and opportunities of procurement and early-stage delivery of this public-private-partnership model. Using insights from transaction cost economics, it finds that this agreement has significantly increased net zero investment in return for increased risk and transaction costs. To ensure successful, just, and equitable delivery of promised place-based net zero investments, significant procurement capabilities, careful due diligence procedures, continuing institutional oversight, and independent measurement and verification are required.
在经历了十五年多的紧缩措施后，随着履行法定职责的成本飙升，英国地方当局实现净零排放的资源和能力正在减弱。与此同时，中央政府提供的脱碳资金是通过竞争方式分配的。为了在这些不利情况下确保长期的、基于地方的净零投资，英国地方当局越来越多地转向公共采购。一个突出的例子是布里斯托尔城市飞跃项目，这是一家合资公司，由布里斯托尔市议会在2018年至2022年期间采购，通过特许权协议在20年内为能源基础设施和服务交付提供约10亿英镑的投资。本文通过与关键利益相关者和专家的研讨会及访谈，研究了这种公私合营模式采购和早期交付的风险与机遇。利用交易成本经济学的见解，研究发现，该协议显著增加了净零投资，但同时风险和交易成本也有所增加。为确保成功、公正和公平地交付承诺的基于地方的净零投资，需要具备强大的采购能力、谨慎的尽职调查程序、持续的机构监督以及独立的测量和核查。
