Just Transition Fund: year one projects
The Just Transition Fund (JTF) is a £500 million ten-year commitment that will support projects in the North East and Moray which contribute towards the region’s transition to net zero.
Year one projects
We have provided a full list of projects supported by the multi-year £50 million grant programme announced in year 1 on this page. All projects are progressing and many have already started to deliver tangible benefits to the region which will accelerate a just transition to net zero in the North East and Moray.
For example, ETZ are supporting local energy supply chain businesses to decarbonise whilst unlocking private capital investment through the Supply Chain Pathway and Energy Transition Challenge Fund. £2 million grant funding will be available to support businesses in Year 2, doubling the amount available in year 1.
We have also doubled the funding available to social enterprises through Social Investment Scotland’s Social Enterprise Just Transition Fund. In year 2, the Fund will continue to support social sector organisations and communities to deliver just transition projects across the region with blended finance. £2 million will be available for organisations in 2023 to 2024, building on the success of our £1 million investment in year 1.
Communities have been equipped with the capacity and power to directly influence just transition in their area through projects such as NESCAN’s pilot Just Transition Communities project and our Just Transition Participatory Budgeting Fund which supported 45 projects in year 1. In year 2 funding available for participatory budgeting projects has been increased to £1.6 million.
We are also supporting skills development with the first of NESA’s pilot training courses scheduled to begin free of charge to participants by the end of 2023 and the Energy Transition Skills Hub successfully launched in September 2023. This will help ensure the region is equipped with the skills and training needed to support the net zero transition.
To find out more about our projects, click here to watch a short video of the Findhorn Watershed Riverwoods Pilot (based in Moray) and another of our Just Transition Fund projects Ripcell (based in Aberdeen).
|
Project/delivery period |
Lead organisation |
Description |
Funding awarded* |
|
Seedpod |
Opportunity North East |
Seedpod aims to be the go to centre for innovation and growth in the net zero food & drink industry. The Just Transition Fund has contributed £3.1m towards the cost of building and fitting out the £27 million project. |
£3,100,000 |
|
Just Transition Hub |
James Hutton Institute |
Net zero innovation hub with a land-use and agriculture focus, located within the grounds of the James Hutton Institute (Hutton) campus in Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen. |
£7,192,000 |
|
Digital Innovation Lab |
Robert Gordon University |
Digital Innovation Lab initially supporting the construction sector to decarbonise before addressing challenges across a range of sectors. |
£1,340,600 |
|
Moray Just Transition Masterplan |
Moray Council |
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. |
£881,000 |
|
Supply Chain Pathway and Energy Transition Challenge Fund |
Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) Ltd |
Supporting companies to enter new energy markets, and delivering capital investment grants to help energy supply chain companies take advantage of low carbon sector opportunities. |
£9,800,000 |
|
HydroGlen |
James Hutton Institute |
Green hydrogen farming pilot to acquire new knowledge to switch from increasingly high levels of fuel poverty to self-reliant, net-zero carbon energy producers in rural communities. |
£6,218,204 |
|
NESS Energy Carbon Capture Feasibility |
Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray Councils |
Study to determine if there is a viable project to retrofit carbon capture systems to the NESS energy facility. |
£100,000 |
|
Offshore Energy Skills Passport |
OPITO |
Development and deployment of a digital offshore energy skills passport to support the transition of skills and jobs across the rapidly changing industry. |
£4,996,100 |
|
Energy Transition Skills Hub (formerly Advanced Manufacturing Skills Hub) |
ETZ and North East Scotland College |
The Skills Hub will be a focal point of the Energy Transition Zone Skills Campus and will aim to deliver the skills and training needed to support net zero transition. |
£4,500,000 |
|
Pilot Energy Transition Skills 2022-2024 |
National Energy Skills Accelerator (NESA) |
Assessing the net zero energy transition skills landscape from now until 2030, identifying gaps/ demand and designing and delivering pilot training to address these. |
£1,000,000 |
|
Net Zero Bottlenecks in Moray |
UHI Moray |
Collaborative study focused on the current and future skills requirements and labour supply chain bottlenecks in Moray as it transitions to Net Zero. |
£210,000 |
|
Easter Anguston Farm 2022-2023 |
VSA |
Feasibility study setting out plans for a centre of excellence focusing on 4 areas: STEM, Farm-to-Fork, woodland adventures and linking people to services to help their health and wellbeing. |
£500,000 |
|
Hydrogen Offshore Production (HOP2) 2022-2026 |
Net Zero Technology Centre |
Project to demonstrate that offshore hydrogen production and storage is feasible through the repurposing of existing assets to produce green hydrogen. |
£2,120,000 |
|
Sustainable Solvent Recovery for EV battery recycling |
Ripcell |
Pilot to test technology using pot ale (whisky waste product) to deploy a “green solvent” to be used in recycling batteries. |
£626,734 |
|
Tidal Rotor Generators |
Shine Engineering |
Pilot to develop tidal rotor generators to create a source of green energy in the region. |
£167,200 |
|
Wave Energy Converter |
Seaweed Energy |
Pilot to develop wave energy converters to create a source of green energy in the region. |
£100,100 |
|
Findhorn EcoVillage |
Park Ecovillage Trust and Findhorn Innovation Research & Education |
Four feasibility studies looking at shifting from conventional housing to net zero housing and transportation within the context of the ecovillage and beyond. |
£226,775 |
|
Finhorn Watershed Riverwoods Pilot |
Findhorn Nairn & Lossie Rivers Trust |
Habitat restoration of the Findhorn watershed, beginning with an unbroken network of riparian woodland along its riverbanks, supporting the restoration of Wild Atlantic Salmon populations. |
£970,000 |
|
North East Adventure Tourism |
Opportunity North East |
Project to transform the region into a world class destination for adventure tourism by facilitating the development of high quality, sustainable facilities and low carbon infrastructure. |
£2,097,000 |
|
The Cabrach Distillery |
Cabrach Trust |
Development of distillery, a Community Interest Company for the Cabrach region that will use its revenues for rural regeneration and a community led regeneration master plan. |
£361,767 |
|
Just Transition Communities Project |
North East Climate Action Network (NESCAN) Hub |
This pilot study aims to address the question of how communities can be involved in and help to drive the process of designing, creating and delivering a Just Transition through a range of participative approaches, including Climate Assemblies. |
£386,152 |
|
Feasibility Study |
Aberdeen and Grampian Chambers of Commerce andCampaign for North East Rail (CNER) |
Study to examine possible travel interventions in Dyce, Ellon, Peterhead, and Fraserburgh to accelerate the region’s transition to net zero. |
£250,000 |
|
Social Enterprise Just Transition Fund |
Social Investment Scotland |
Delivery of a blended finance approach(part loan/part grant) focused on supporting charities and social enterprises to transition to net zero. |
£1,027,180 |
|
Participatory Budgeting |
|
£1 million of the Fund will be allocated to participatory budgeting every year over the lifetime of this parliament. |
£4,200,000 |
*Some figures have been updated following September 2022 publication.
Year two
Alongside supporting and monitoring delivery of the multi-year projects announced in year 1, in year 2 the First Minister announced an additional £25 million would be allocated to the Scottish National Investment Bank to be invested in the North East and Moray on a commercial basis. This brings the Fund’s total commitment to the region since 2022 to £75 million.
The Scottish National Investment Bank makes investments in line with its Investment Strategy and in support of its missions including to support the Just Transition to net zero. The additional £25 million allocated to the Bank from the Just Transition Fund will also be invested in line with the Fund’s geographic remit.
Read more about the Bank’s approach to investment, and in more detail in its Investment Strategy.
Businesses, projects and their representatives can contact the Bank via its website, where the Bank’s new enquiries team will handle the approach.
Contact
Email: JustTransitionFund@gov.scot
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