Companies receive £9.4m to help cut carbon

27 Sep 2022 09:57 AM

Ten companies have been awarded a total of £9.4 million to help Scottish industries reduce carbon emissions through decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects.

The recipients from the second round of the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF) are predominantly involved in the manufacturing and food and drink sectors.

The projects include a more energy efficient dryer at a seaweed processing facility, whilst several brewers and whisky distilleries will also receive funding for projects that aim to reduce the emissions that are created during energy-intensive manufacturing processes.

The projects awarded funding have the potential to reduce emissions by 40,482 tonnes of CO2 a year, the equivalent of the annual emissions from 17,000 households.

A further £160,000 has also been made available to conduct up to four engineering or feasibility studies into future projects that will aim to reduce emissions and increase efficiency within the sector by creating a pipeline of future projects.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the funding while visiting Graham’s Family Dairy, where previous SIETF funding allowed them to upgrade steam production and heat distribution infrastructure.

The First Minister said:

“Reducing emissions in our manufacturing sector will be a crucial step in ensuring Scotland reaches its net zero target by 2045.

“I am pleased that the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund continues to support companies across the sector to embrace decarbonisation, improve efficiency and reduce their impact on the environment.

“This week is Scotland’s Climate Week, which puts a renewed focus upon the ongoing climate emergency and our efforts to tackle it. And as households and businesses struggle with rising energy costs, it has never been more important to support industry to become more energy efficient.

“I welcome the work that the Fund has already supported and I hope that many more businesses will apply in the future.”

Up to £34 million of Scottish Government funding will be made available through the lifetime of the five-year SIETF, which runs until 2026. The third round of applications is now live.

Robert B Graham, Managing Director at Graham’s Family Dairy said:

“The SIETF programme has enabled us to accelerate our industrial decarbonisation programme, driving energy efficiencies and reducing waste. SIETF funding support has meant we have been able to deliver a number of process decarbonisation projects in parallel, to achieve scalable impact across our supply chain and share results to support Scottish industry & businesses with their journey to net zero.”

Peter Davison and Kieran Healey-Ryder from the Sustainability Leadership Team at Whyte & Mackay, which has secured second round funding, said:

“As whisky makers we believe in a sustainable future for what we do here on Jura. This Scottish Government programme is a galvanising platform for industry to come together and solve for a green future right across these islands.

“This grant will accelerate our journey towards a sustainable future for whisky making here on Jura.”

Background 

The Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund was launched on 11 December 2020. The first recipients of SIETF were announced on 8 October 2021.

SIETF supports industrial sites with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future. It will improve the international competitiveness of many companies whilst protecting jobs. The application window for the third round of projects will remain open until 18 November 2022.

The second round of recipients of SIETF funding are detailed below:

Name	Competition	Sector	Location	Technology
Grant offered: over £2m
DSM Nutritional Products	Deployment	Food and drink	East Ayrshire	Mechanical Vapour Recompression (MVR) technology
Whyte & Mackay	Deployment	Food and drink	Argyle and Bute	Steam boiler with biomass fuel burner and flue gas purification
Grant offered: £1m - £2m
Pauls Malt	Deployment	Food and drink	Angus	The installation of a hot water network and CHP
Grant offered: £500k - £1m
Brewdog	Deployment	Food and drink	Aberdeenshire	Food grade (green) CO2 production via CO2 capture
Carbon Capture Scotland	Deployment	Dry Ice Production	Dumfries and Galloway	CO2 Feedstock Recycling
Uist Asco	Deployment	Manufacturing	Western Isles	Installation of a more efficient dryer with heat recovery
UPM	Deployment	Manufacturing	East Ayrshire	Replace existing pumps with three energy efficient turbo blowers
Grant offered: £250k – £500k
Diageo	Deployment	Food and Drink	Aberdeenshire	Installation of High Temperature Heat Pump
Macphie	Deployment	Food and Drink	Aberdeenshire	Conversion of oil fired steam plant to natural gas
Tennent’s	Deployment	Food and Drink	Glasgow City	Air compressor and spent grain transfer and smart air injection and spent grain removal technology
Grant offered: £100k - 250k
DSM Nutritional Products	Deployment	Food and drink	East Ayrshire	Heat recovery DCM evaporator and preheat feed effluent columns
Grant offered: under £125k (study only)
Diageo	Study	Food and drink	Fife	Natural gas to electricity transition
GlenAllachie Distillery	Study	Food and drink	Moray	Mechanical Vapour Recompression (MVR) technology
Ineos	Study	Petrochemicals	Falkirk	Energy efficiency of pyrolysis furnaces
Tennents	Study	Food and drink	Glasgow City	Investigation of low carbon heat pump technology