Funding for UK businesses to cut emissions and transition to a cleaner, secure energy system

New government-backed projects will clean up industrial processes and reduce business energy costs, with winners including green fuel producer Catagen in Belfast, which will receive more than £6 million.

The UK’s largest malting site, a leading supplier of household paper and an innovative green fuel producer in Belfast are among those receiving a share of nearly £46 million to use cleaner, home-grown energy.

Tweed Valley Maltings in Northumberland has been the headquarters of Simpsons Malt, a fifth-generation family business, since 1963.

The funding will help them establish a low carbon energy centre. With the help of a wind powered electric boiler, the new facility at Simpsons Malt will cut bills, reduce emissions and secure their energy independence.

This is one of 26 businesses who are receiving a share of the funding, with others including:

• Danfoss, who are based in Edinburgh, are testing a pump and motor system in an excavator at a quarry site, improving energy efficiency and supporting the transition to electric off-road vehicles; and
• Digital Realty, who will be upgrading coolers in their data halls, switching to more efficient chillers to help cut their energy consumption

These projects will put the UK a step closer to meeting our international targets, and see businesses save money on their energy bills and safeguard British jobs. They are the winners of 3 government competitions:

• the Red Diesel Replacement Competition
• the Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Competition
• the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund

Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability Amanda Solloway said:

As we continue towards our goal of reaching net zero by 2050, we want to ensure businesses have all the support they need to power our transition to a cleaner, cheaper energy system.

Our funding will support ground-breaking projects in malting, construction and manufacturing so businesses can incorporate green energy into their day-to-day operations.

Halving Emissions

The UK is a trailblazer in its ambitions to reach net zero by 2050 – forging ahead of many other countries and nearly halving emissions since 1990.

But the UK will need to cut this by a further two-thirds by 2035 to achieve our net zero target. With industry responsible for producing an estimated 16% of our emissions at present, the government is taking action to support businesses onto greener paths.

Catagen, one of the winning projects from the Red Diesel Replacement Competition, which will receive the programme’s largest government award, is using new net zero technology to produce green hydrogen and e-diesel for industrial vehicles in Northern Ireland.

This will further support Northern Ireland’s green economy, helping industry at home to transition away from costly fossil fuels, while laying the foundations for future export opportunities that could create new jobs and boost local growth.

The announcement comes on the day of the Northern Ireland Investment Summit, where Northern Ireland’s innovation and technological strengths are on display to more than 100 global investors.

Dr Andrew Woods CEO and Co-Founder at Catagen said:

The pathway to decarbonise the off-road mobile machinery is difficult, these vehicles tend to be larger, built for extreme conditions, have long duty cycles and high-power demand. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so we are delighted to be making this bold step with Terex and Wrightbus to develop an end-to-end decarbonised solution.

This will showcase a Terex crusher and screener at a quarry, powered by a dual fuel hydrogen e-diesel genset, produced and fuelled by the ClimaHtech system and the Wrightbus Hydrogen bowser. Catagen’s purpose is to clean and decarbonise the air and this project brings us one step closer to our goal to reduce global emissions.

The Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Competition supports projects to test moving from industrial fuel to hydrogen, spanning all the way from generation and storage to end use. One winner is the Bay Hydrogen Hub, run by EDF Energy Generation, which generates low-carbon hydrogen using steam from the generation of nuclear energy and will support the asphalt industry move to a cleaner fuel source.

Rachael Glaving Commercial Director at EDF said:

Nuclear power can play a vital role in decarbonising industries which rely on fossil fuels. The Bay Hydrogen Hub will do just that and at the same time help the UK reach net zero.

And to support businesses with high energy use, the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund funds efforts by these companies to cut their emissions and become more efficient. In a UK first, Simpsons Malt will partner with AMP Clean Energy to build a low carbon energy centre to reduce emissions during the intensive malting process.

Steven Rowley Operations Director at Simpsons Malt Limited said:

We are committed to minimising the impact of our operations on the environment and operating this Energy Centre at our Tweed Valley Maltings will be an important step in our objective of achieving net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030, giving us a group reduction of around 55%

As a result, the malt that leaves our Tweed Valley Maltings – 90% of which is destined for the distilling industry – will have a significantly reduced carbon footprint, helping our distilling customers deliver on their own sustainability objectives while also positively impacting the sector as a whole.

The announcement represents a combination of twenty-six winning projects from three programmes:

• £25.7 million in government funding for 6 winning projects from Phase 2 of the Red Diesel Replacement Competition. They are also receiving £14.2 million of private investment through match funding from the projects. (See the full list of Red Diesel Replacement projects)
• £7 million in government funding for 2 winning projects from the Final Phase of the Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Competition. They are also receiving £5.7 million of private investment through match funding from the projects. (See the full list of Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Competition projects
• £13 million for 18 winning projects from Phase 2 of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF). They are also receiving £22.9 million of private investment through match funding from the projects. (See the full list of IETF projects).

The Red Diesel Replacement and Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator competitions are funded through the government’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio which provides funding for low carbon technologies and systems.

The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) supports the development and deployment of technologies that enable businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future.

How can CarbonStore help your business?

In partnership with Tilhill, CarbonStore can help you deliver new woodland creation and woodland-based carbon mitigation projects to help your business offset its residual carbon emissions. These projects not only achieve the highest possible standards in carbon offsetting but also offer many widespread benefits we can all enjoy.

Please contact David McCulloch, the head of CarbonStore, personally either by email (david.mcculloch@carbonstoreuk.com) or by phone (07500 950832).

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