Our vision is for a just energy transition, where investment is appropriately channelled to meet the needs of our diverse communities, enable timely decarbonisation and create a thriving market for clean-tech innovation and economic growth.
Energy Capital provides a single point of contact for government, regulators, funders, investors and partners across the West Midlands geography.
We apply innovation and collaborative delivery to solve the embedded challenges within the energy system.
As a unique partnership between the public, private and third sector, we work together to enhance policy, governance, regulation and investment decisions, to create a smarter energy system that responds to the needs of our economy and communities.
We aim to make the West Midlands a fairer, greener and healthier place to live, work and do business – where our energy system is a genuine enabler to growth and prosperity.
The West Midlands was the first Mayoral Authority to make energy a central part of its devolution deal. Check out the milestones of our development below.
- The Mayor secured government backing for innovation in energy systems to be included in the region’s second Devolution Deal in 2017, building on the region’s historic strengths, skills and assets in the energy sector.
- We published the Energy Capital Policy Commission in 2018, chaired by Sir David King. This identified the best ways for the West Midlands to take advantage of the growing economic opportunities generated by the energy sector, including plans to trial new approaches to energy locally in pilot Energy Innovation Zones (EIZs) across the region.
- We worked with partners to establish five trial Energy Innovation Zones across the region.
- The WMCA formally adopted its first Regional Energy Strategy in January 2019 (following the approval and endorsement of the Black Country Consortium, Coventry & Warwickshire and Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEPs and the Strategic Economic Development Board).
- We secured investment into three Prospering from the Energy Revolution Innovation projects in the West Midlands and led the development and delivery of the Regional Energy Systems Operator Innovation project, looking at new models of regional and local energy governance.
- We secured Innovation funding to develop a new regional approach to tackle fuel poverty and decarbonise homes across the West Midlands, which leveraged significant investment into innovate retrofit solutions and led to the establishment of the SMART Hub, focused on establishing a Sustainable Market for Affordable Retrofit Technologies across the region to support the region's local authorities to secure and deploy retrofit funding.
- In 2021 we positioned as a Net Zero Pathfinder to work with Government to maximise the contribution of local areas to achieving net zero and championed the call for the partial devolution of responsibilities on energy and net zero.
- In 2022, Energy Capital was name checked in the Levelling Up White Paper and began negotiations with Government on including energy and net zero in a Trailblazing Devolution Deal
- In 2023 the WMCA signed a Trailblazing Devolution Deal, including energy and net zero
- In 2024 the Energy Capital team agreed a Local Net Zero Accelerator Programme with Government and began negotiating the details of a devolved retrofit pilot as part of the trailblazing devolution deal, which the new Government of May 2024 has confirmed its commitment to.