Scottish social homes to go solar following £13m investment

£13.4m will be spent on a variety of low carbon projects in Scotland, including solar panels placed on social housing in Aberdeenshire and a district heat network in Midlothian.

The money will come from the Scottish Government’s Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP), which has set up in 2015 to support the country’s transition to a low carbon economy.

Other schemes that the LCITP has provided financial support to include Nova Innovation’s Tidal Energy Storage project in Shetland which has transformed the lives of the residents of Fair Isle by providing 24 hour electricity for the first time.

Paul Wheelhouse, Scotland’s Energy Minister, said: ‘This latest announcement of funding offers will help further develop our low carbon capabilities as we continue to attract, retain and advance low carbon innovations.

‘Scotland has tremendous resource and skills in the low carbon economy and the transition to a more prosperous, low carbon and circular economy also presents a valuable economic opportunity.

‘The LCITP continues to help place Scotland at the forefront of the low carbon transition and support our wider programmes to meet our world-leading climate change targets.’

In related news, electric vehicle (EV) hire clubs will be set up at eight Scottish housing associations, following £510,000 of funding from the Scottish government.

The Plugged-in Households Grant Fund will help tenants, staff and other local residents rent EV and low-emission vehicles from the clubs, which will be operated by and administered by the Energy Saving Trust.

The fund, which launched for the first time in October 2018, has already created opportunities for people to drive low emission vehicles in Aberdeenshire, Elgin, Fife, Glasgow, Midlothian, Paisley and Orkney. In total, it’s claimed the clubs will now be available to over 100,000 households.