The UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) has today announced that it has now committed £2.3 billion to 58 green infrastructure projects with a total value of £10.1bn, almost three years to the day that the organisation was officially declared open.

The Edinburgh-based organisation’s most recent investment – a commitment of £47m to Northern Ireland’s largest energy from waste (EfW) plant – is indicative of its mandate: financing innovative UK green infrastructure projects on a commercial basis while ‘crowding in’ private sector capital.

To date GIB has invested in every UK region from the Highlands of Scotland to the Sussex coast, partnering with almost 100 co-investors.

It has financed over a dozen different green energy technologies: from 6MW offshore wind turbines to small biomass boilers in whisky distilleries. Investments range from a £306.5m commitment to a £1.2bn offshore wind farm off the coast of Brighton, to a £6.3m Green Loan to finance the installation of 10,000 LED streetlights in Glasgow.

Once built, its investments will aim to produce enough renewable energy to meet the annual electricity needs of every home in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of removing nearly every car in Scotland from the road.

Business secretary Sajid Javid said the milestone shows the Green Investment Bank is going from strength to strength and is having a major impact supporting renewable energy projects across the whole of the UK.

He added: “Crucially, it has demonstrated that investing in green technology and our future energy security can be a profitable business and I am sure the coming years will see a significant scaling-up of its operations as it moves into private ownership and mobilises private sector capital.”

Shaun Kingsbury, chief executive, Green Investment Bank, said: “GIB was declared open for business three years ago. Since then we have worked with almost 100 co-investors to finance more than £10bn of green infrastructure in the UK. But our contribution goes beyond the projects we have financed: we have shown that green investment is good business.

“We operate as a specialist investor in a niche, but fast-growing area of financial services. Our focused team of market experts has moulded a flexible and creative investment strategy that has played a major role in establishing a commercial market for green infrastructure investment in the UK. Our experience offers important lessons for other countries looking to the private sector to help deliver their investment ambitions set out ahead of the Paris climate change conference.”

WWF Scotland welcomed the milestone but raised concerns over future of GIB’s green mission.

Lang Banks, WWF Scotland director, said: “In a relatively short time the Green Investment Bank has achieved impressive results toward reducing climate emissions and creating jobs in the growing low carbon economy. Its successful investments in offshore wind and energy efficiency have been effective in getting numerous innovative projects off the ground.

“Whether it is the Green Investment Bank, government or others, if we’re to meet our climate change objectives it’s vital that we see continued investment in low-carbon infrastructure and technologies. Failure to invest in the right projects today could end up locking us into a high-carbon world tomorrow.

“The success of the GIB shows the serious investment appetite for low carbon infrastructure. As we approach next Holyrood elections, we hope that all political parties commit to ensure future capital budgets and large-scale infrastructure projects are aligned with Scotland’s climate change act.”

On proposed plans to privatise the GIB, Banks added: “Providing the GIB with additional borrowing powers could strengthen its ability to deliver more for the environment, but without suitable safeguards protecting its green mission, there’s a real risk that the proposed privatisation will undermine its role in unlocking green investment. Whatever the outcome the green purpose of the GIB must be retained.”