Information and news about woodfuel in Scotland

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Scottish Rural Development Programme

Climate Challenge Fund

Scottish Biomass Heat Scheme

Community Energy Scotland (website)

1. Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (website)

SCHRI is funded by the Scottish Government and provides funding to householders and advice and funding to communities. The household stream is managed by the Energy Saving Trust and the community stream is jointly managed by the Energy Saving Trust and Community Energy Scotland.

The objectives of SCHRI are:
- To support the development of community scale renewable projects
- To support the installation of household renewables
- To raise awareness of renewable technologies and their benefits to Scotland
- To provide support to the renewables industry

Community Stream : SCHRI provides grants of up to £100,000 for communities and has a network of development officers who can provide support and advice to the communities throughout the installation process.

Household Stream : SCHRI provides grants to householders of up to 30% of the costs to a maximum of £4,000. The installer and product must be accredited.

The technologies available for funding are:
- solar photovoltaic *
- micro hydro-electric
- micro wind
- solar water heating
- solar space heating
- automated wood fuel heating systems (boilers and room heaters/stoves)
- heat pumps (ground, air and water source)
- connections to the Lerwick District Heating Network

Further advice from 0800 138 8858 or download an application pack.

2. Income-generating projects

As well as funding microgeneration and efficiency projects, Community Energy Scotland also provides funding and technical support to those communities who are developing income-generating projects eg. small community windfarms or hydro schemes.  Grants are also available from Community Energy Scotland for community groups to enable them to become constituted and to obtain technical expertise on the best options and locations for their community energy projects.

3. Big Lottery Scotland

Through Big Lottery Scotland's Growing Community Assets scheme, Community Energy Scotland is also able to offer advice and support communities to bring real and lasting legacies to their local communities through developing sustainable energy projects.

4. Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Under Phase 2 of BERR's Low Carbon Buildings Programme, grants for the installation of microgeneration technologies are available to public sector buildings (including schools, hospitals, housing associations and local authorities) and charitable bodies. Community Energy Scotland , in conjunction with the Energy Savings Trust, has launched a programme to increase the uptake of sustainable energy measures in schools throughout Scotland.  (For more information please contact Brid McKibben, Community Energy Scotland's schools renewables development officer on 01349 860130.)

Scottish Rural Development Programme (website)

Renewable Energy - Forestry (website)

What is this about?
To encourage forestry businesses to install small scale renewable energy capacity, mainly for own consumption, as a way to help to combat climate change and improve business viability.

What will this achieve?
* Improved business efficiency
* Reduction in carbon emissions
* Help to develop a local sustainable energy supply

What you can do?
Install small scale renewable energy capacity, up to 250kw, such as biogas, biomass and microrenewables where the investment will contribute to the achievements listed above.

Who can apply?
Forestry businesses

Eligibility Criteria
* Micro renewable energy systems (defined as up to 50kW or 45kW for heat) must be installed by a registered installer on the Microgeneration Accreditation list.
* All CHP installations must meet the criteria set for Good Quality for the purposes of the Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECA) scheme as set out in the CHP Quality Assurance (CHPQA) Programme
* If located in a Smoke Control Area you must install an exempt appliance

What costs could be supported?
* Purchase and installation of equipment
* Construction, upgrading or development of infrastructure

What technologies are supported?
* Small scale wind turbines
* Hydro-electric turbines
* Solar panels
* Automated woodfuel boilers
* Heat pumps
* Solar water heating
* Anaerobic digestion equipment using slurry and other agricultural by-products in the production of energy
* Specialist equipment for harvesting, pre-use processing (e.g. dryers, chippers, pelletisers), quality assurance (e.g. for checking moisture content, chip size, etc) and handling.
* Supply chain equipment

To ensure value for money we require you to provide 2 competitive quotes for any capital items applied for which are based on actual cost. If, however, you are seeking grant support towards something so specialised it is only available through 1 source then we would accept 1 quote. Please see the guidance on quotes and estimates for more information.

Rate of support?
* Up to 50% of eligible cost in Less Favoured Areas (LFA).
* Up to 40% in non- LFAs.

Inspections/verification
* All final claims must be accompanied by relevant invoices
* At least one inspection visit to the site will be undertaken prior to payment of final claim
* Microgeneration Accreditation list of registered installers will be checked
* If applicable, the criteria set of good quality CHP Programme will be verified for compliance
* If located in a Smoke Control Area must install an exempt appliance and this licence must be verified

Technical Guidance
Registered installers and accredited appliance information can be found at www.greenbooklive.com
All heat appliances that qualify for ECA must meet the criteria for inclusion on the Energy Technology list (www.eca.gov.uk)
Further information on CHPQA Programme (http://www.chpqa.com/html/about.htm)
Further information on Smoke Control Areas (www.uksmokecontrolareas.co.uk)

Climate Challenge Fund (website)

Types of organisations funded

• Voluntary, not-for-profit and charitable organisations
• Schools
• Community groups working in partnership with Universities and Colleges
• Community groups working in partnership with national voluntary, not-for-profit and charitable organisations
• Community groups working in partnership with Local Authorities
• Community groups working in partnership with Housing Associations
• Community groups working in partnership with Community Planning Partnerships

Types of activities funded

For further information contact Keep Scotland Beautiful on 01786 471333 or email ccf@ksbscotland.org.uk

Scottish Biomass Heat Scheme

On 6th October 2008, the Scottish Government announced a further round of funding under the Scottish Biomass Heat Scheme. It aims to encourage renewable heat use by businesses and in district heating demonstrators. The Scheme will provide grants for (a) installation of biomass heating systems in small-medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and (b) district heating demonstrations set up by private developers.

Amounts/Time-scales
• £2 million of funding to be disbursed from April 2009 to March 2011.
• Maximum grant of £100,000.
• Additional support for district heating projects may be considered on a case-by-case basis for projects with an outstanding demonstration value.
• Up to 50% funding of the additional capital costs of a biomass heating system compared to an equivalent fossil-fuel system can be supported under the scheme.

Who can apply? - Eligibility
• Funding under this round is limited to SMEs*
• Land-based businesses and rural micro-enterprises who are eligible under the SRDP for installations up to 250 kW will not be eligible for SBHS funding.

( *1 An SME is an autonomous enterprise with i) a staff headcount of less than 250 and ii) a turnover ≤ 50 million EUROs or a balance sheet total ≤ 43 million EUROs. Where your business is linked or a partner enterprise, relationships with other enterprises should be taken into account. A user guide is available at ec.europa.eu/enterprise/enterprise_policy/sme_definition/index_en.htm)
• Community projects and local authorities who are eligible for SCHRI support will not be eligible for SBHS funding.
• Private householders are not eligible as funding is available for domestic installations under SCHRI.
• Funding cannot be given out retrospectively under any circumstances

For what? (Type of applications)
SBHS is limited to heat only projects. Electricity only or Combined Heat & Power projects will not be considered.

Application process
• Full application forms are available on www.usewoodfuel.co.uk and
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/19185/20805/BioSupport
Registration forms are also available for initial enquiries and registering interest in the scheme.
• Support will be available via the SBHS support team at all stages
• Applications will be assessed competitively against an agreed set of indicators and further details will provided in the guidance notes to accompany the application form.

Enquiries:
SBHS Administration
Forestry Commission Scotland
Tel: 01349 860 919
Email: biomass.scotland@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.usewoodfuel.co.uk