Second round of Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund opens

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A second round of applications of the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF) is now open, the Scottish Government has announced.

The application window for a second round of SIETF will remain open until 17th of December 2021.

The second round of the fund has an expanded scope to include more industrial sectors and welcomes enquiries from projects or studies to improve energy efficiency at industrial sites, or to decarbonise heat through measures such as fuel switching.

Net Zero and Energy Secretary Michael Matheson commented on the announcement: “Bold, urgent and collective action is required across all sectors to ensure we become a net-zero economy by 2045 at the latest.

“The Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund is providing substantial, tangible support to help industry and our manufacturing sector decarbonise in response to our climate targets.

“The Fund will support a wide range of manufacturing companies to commit to lowering emissions and future-proofing their operations. I hope many more will follow suit and look forward to the next round of applications supporting just that.”

With the announcement of the second round opening for applications, the first recipients of the fund have also been published.

Eight companies will share £3.4 million through the first round of the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF), with additional private funding bringing total investment across the projects to more than £10 million.

Projects awarded funding include the conversion of gas combustion furnaces to ‘a cleaner, oxy-fuel system’ at a glass manufacturing plant, and a feasibility study into capturing CO2 during the fermentation process at a whisky distillery.

According to the Scottish Government, these projects will reduce emissions by an estimated 14,000 tonnes of CO2e a year by the time they are completed, saving the equivalent of the annual emissions from 5,200 households.

Up to £34 million of funding will be made available through the lifetime of the five-year SIETF, which runs until 2026.

More information about the fund and the recipient projects is available on the Scottish Government website.