£2m cash boost for Moray groups from newly announced Just Transition Fund
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A £2 million cash injection for Moray groups has been announced at the SNP conference in Aberdeen.
Announced during Nicola Sturgeon's keynote speech at the SNP conference today (Monday, October 10), Moray groups are to receive over £2 million in funding to support a just transition.
Reacting to the announcement, Richard Lochhead MSP said: "This is a momentous announcement and commitment to this region.
"These funds will support some essential projects and support decarbonising our economy.
"Just transition requires the creation of high quality green jobs and reduces inequality in our society.
"These projects are essential to achieving net zero by 2045.
"Over £2 million has gone to Moray from this round of funding, but the area will also benefit from over £50 million going to the north east overall."
In total, £2,712,775 is going to groups in the Moray area.
The biggest winner from the new Just Transition Funds is the Findhorn Watershed project, which will seek to regenerate the rivers Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie.
Taking in £970,000 from the funds, the project aims to restore populations of wild Atlantic salmon.
In second place is the Moray Council, who are taking home £881,000 to support their Moray Just Transition Masterplan.
The masterplan is a collection of five projects to support Moray’s net zero goals, including moving away from fossil fuels, offshore renewables, creation of a local hydrogen economy, natural capital approach to offsetting, and redeveloping derelict land and premises.
Moray's slice of the £500 million Just Transition Fund is part of the first round of cash distributed.
Announcing the new funding, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "Aberdeen and the North East is at the heart of our just transition to a net zero future.
"Aberdeen is the oil and gas capital of Europe.
"Let us resolve today to make it the net zero capital of the world.
"That ambition led us to establish the £500 million Just Transition Fund for this region.
"Today I can announce the first 22 projects have just been awarded funding of more than £50 million.
"There Incredible Scottish ingenuity here in the North-East, supported by the Scottish Government, developing technologies to tackle the global climate emergency.
"It is exciting, inspiring stuff.
"And it is a shining example of what a Scottish Government can do when the powers lie in our hands."
The full list of Moray projects receiving funding from the Just Transition Fund is below:
Moray Just Transition Masterplan – Moray Council – £881,000
Five interlinked projects to support Moray’s journey away from fossil fuels, including projects to support offshore renewables, creation of a local hydrogen economy, natural capital approach to offsetting, and redeveloping derelict land and premises.
NESS Energy Carbon Capture Feasibility – Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray Councils – £100,000
Study to determine if there is a viable project to retrofit carbon capture systems to the NESS energy facility.
Net Zero Bottlenecks in Moray – UHI Moray – £210,000
Feasibility study to identify the current skill gaps in Moray and what is holding it back in transitioning to net zero
Sustainable Solvent Recovery for EV battery recycling – Ripcell – £626,734
Pilot to test technology using pot ale (whisky waste product) to deploy a “green solvent” to be used in recycling batteries.
Findhorn EcoVillage Park – Ecovillage Trust and Findhorn Innovation Research & Education – £226,775
Four feasibility studies looking at shifting from conventional housing to net zero housing and transportation within the context of the ecovillage and beyond.
Findhorn Watershed – Riverwoods Pilot Findhorn Nairn & Lossie Rivers Trust – £970,000
Creating a thriving, regenerated River Findhorn watershed, with an unbroken network of riparian woodland along its riverbanks, supporting the restoration of Wild Atlantic Salmon populations.
The Cabrach Distillery – Cabrach Trust – £325,000
Development of distillery, a Community Interest Company for the Cabrach region that would use its revenues for rural regeneration and community led regeneration master plan.
