The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte TD has announced the launch of a capital fund of €7.5m to support sustainable energy investments in 2012 in the public, commercial, industrial and community sectors.

Applications for funding will be evaluated on a competitive bid basis, with the scheme open now. Successful applicants will be notified in June.

The Better Energy Workplaces programme spent €11m in 2011 to co-finance 85 projects in the public, commercial, industrial and community sectors. This leveraged additional investment of €34m. Estimated annual monetary savings are €11m.

Minister Rabbitte said: “Building on the success of previous schemes, this fund will ramp up the competitiveness of Irish business by delivering real savings in an affordable way for both public and private enterprise. This is a timely example of organisations in Ireland working towards best practice in energy efficiency to deliver real benefits in all sectors of our economy.”