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£17.3 million from UK Government funding to boost Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone.
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Funding will help create a renewables business hub next to Aberdeen South Harbour, to create and grow clean energy companies.
ETZ Ltd, the not for profit, private sector led company spearheading North East Scotland’s energy transition, is to receive a £17.3 million funding boost from the UK Government, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander confirmed today [30 October] on a visit to Aberdeen.
The funding will accelerate the development of the company’s flagship project – the Energy Transition Zone. The Zone is located next to Aberdeen South Harbour which has recently been redeveloped to provide the deepwater berths and other infrastructure needed for offshore wind manufacturing. The adjacent land is being redeveloped by ETZ Ltd as the Energy Transition Zone to encourage the creation, growth and co-location of clean energy businesses using the new harbour facilities and their supply chains. The UK Government’s £17.3 million will be used to further develop the site ready for new businesses to move in.
The new development will help Aberdeen South Harbour become a leading hub in delivery of offshore renewable projects, as well as encouraging inward investment and growing the renewables supply chain.
This investment is part of the UK Government’s drive to clean energy, which will create skilled jobs and bring down energy bills. The announcement comes after the money was committed by the previous administration but, like many unfunded announcements, not delivered.
Douglas Alexander said:
The UK Government’s £17.3 million investment in Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone will create jobs and bring down bills. This investment will accelerate a renewables hub which will help to deliver a thriving renewables sector in and around Aberdeen.
Maggie McGinlay, Chief Executive of ETZ Ltd, said:
To ensure North East Scotland remains a thriving hub of energy excellence, we must have government and industry working in partnership to support our world-class supply chain who will lead the delivery of the vast pipeline of energy transition projects, particularly offshore wind, on our doorstep.
The visit of the Secretary of State to Aberdeen, and the hugely welcome confirmation of funding, exemplifies that collaborative approach and will be instrumental in our ability to take forward an accelerated programme of activity that means the Energy Transition Zone, and region more broadly, positions itself as the most attractive location in Europe for investment in low carbon technologies.
ETZ Ltd is a not-for-profit, private sector-led company spearheading North East Scotland’s energy transition. Its aim is for the region to remain a global leader in energy excellence, with a world-class supply chain, pioneering low carbon projects and a thriving economy.
The UK Government has already invested £9.7 million in the ETZ. That includes £5 million for the Innovation Campus (a facility for developing new green energy technologies and scaling up their manufacture and a new Energy Transition Skills Hub (boasting a state-of-the-art welding academy, advanced manufacturing zone and future technology digital training).
Mr Alexander was in Aberdeen to meet energy suppliers to discuss the UK Government’s clean energy ambitions. While in the city he attended an energy round table, met Great British Energy, was shown round the Floating Offshore Wind Innovation Centre in the Energy Transition Zone, and visited Aberdeen South Harbour.
