Net Zero

31 March 2021

Energy Efficiency Transition Training Support and Heat Pump Training

The National Energy Efficiency Transition Support and Heat Pump Training Fund, supported by ESP has been put in place by the Scottish Government to support those in the energy, engineering and construction sectors who’s careers have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The fully funded courses, offered by nine Scottish Colleges, are aimed at upskilling and enhancing the qualifications of individuals aged 25 or older who are redundant or at risk of being made redundant.

The courses cover key areas and combine online learning with onsite practical elements on a college campus near you to ensure you gain the skills and qualifications employers really value.

29 March 2021

Co2nstruct Zero Business Champions Overview

CLC is establishing governance arrangements to support the management and monitoring of CO2nstruct Zero, consisting of:

• Programme Board
• Independent Advisory Panel
• A network of Business Champions
• Green Construction Board

Click here to learn how to sign up as a Business Champion.

19 March 2021

Stimulating repairs & improvements Webinar

Construction Scotland Innovation Centre hosted a free webinar to hear a briefing on a report entitled The economic, social and environmental benefits of stimulating repairs and improvements to the Scottish built environment to aid a green recovery from Covid-19.

View it here

01 March 2021

Renewables Funding

Support Programme	Description
Home Energy Scotland Loan	HES has supported 1,948 heat pump installations since 2017, offering a loan of up to £10,000 for the installation of a heat pump system. The HES loan also offers cashback to further incentivise uptake. Since November 2020 the cashback offer was increased from 25% to 75% cashback. (There are also loans and cashback for energy efficiency measures. These may support more efficiency heat pump operation.)
Resource Efficient Scotland SME Loan	Support for SMEs to install energy efficiency measures or renewable systems with interest free loan up to £100,000. The new scheme introduced in November 2020 offers SMEs 75% cash back on the cost of installing renewable heat up to a value of £10,000. (There is also cashback – up to £10,000 – available for energy efficiency measures. These may support more efficiency heat pump operation.) Since 2017, the scheme has provided a total of £300,000 of support to 23 heat pump developments.
Warmer Homes Scotland	Support scheme for vulnerable consumers. Offers funding and interest-free loans to improve energy efficiency to reduce heating costs including the installation of heat pumps. Since the scheme started in 2015, a total of 446 heat pumps have been installed with a further 143 applications in the pipeline.
Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES)	Offers a range of financial support to local energy projects, including development loans and/or grant funding of up to £150,000 to support renewable energy projects for communities and eligible organisations. CARES has so far funded 6 heat pump projects with a total of 432 kW, including a 400 kW district heating development for Glasgow Housing Association.
Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP)	Provides funding to enable low carbon projects to secure further public and private capital finance. Has awarded over £20m funding for heat pump projects to date including large scale heat network schemes such as Queens Quay.
District Heating Loan Fund	Provides competitive fixed-rate loans to low carbon communal heating projects, such as heat networks using heat pumps. The DHLF has supported 3 heat pump developments which are providing heat to a total of 2 commercial buildings and 16 households. Construction is ongoing at 2 larger projects including 11 commercial buildings and 657 households.
The Decarbonisation Fund	Has provided funding over two rounds to support compliance with the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH). These rounds have resulted in heat pump installations for 196 households, all of which are installed in combination with either solar PV or a thermal storage battery.
Renewable Heat Incentive	As of November 2020, there were 11,277 heat pumps accredited on the Domestic RHI in Scotland[1]. There are also 260 accredited heat pump developments in Scotland on the Non-Domestic RHI, with a total capacity of 55 MW[2]. The UK Government has extended the Domestic RHI until 31 March 2022, when it will be replaced by the Clean Heat Grant Scheme.
Clean Heat Grant Scheme	The UK Government has announced the Clean Heat Grant Scheme, which is expected to begin in April 2022 and run for 2 years until March 2024. The Scheme is intended to provide a £4,000 flat-rate technology neutral upfront grant to successful applicants. It will fund heat pumps, and biomass where a heat pump is not suitable, up to 45kw in capacity via a voucher mechanism. £100 million funding will support the scheme.

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