AN EXTRA £100million will be made available to support green energy projects in Scotland after a deal was struck between Holyrood and Westminster.
Chancellor George Osborne said yesterday the Scottish Government would be able to spend half the cash in the fossil-fuel levy fund.
SNP ministers have made repeated calls for access to the money, which comes from the suppliers of non-renewable energy sources.
The fund, currently worth about £200million, is held in London but can be spent only to promote the use of energy from renewable sources in Scotland.
The other half will be made available to support the capitalisation of the £3billion UK-wide Green Investment Bank, some of which will also go to companies in Scotland.
Details of the agreement were revealed as Mr Osborne visited the Nigg fabrication yard on the Cromarty Firth.
The sale of the site was announced last month, with new owner Global Energy Group revealing plans to transform it into a major manufacturing base for green energy technology and create up to 2,000 jobs by 2015.
Mr Osborne said: “It’s great news that we have been able to cut through the arguments and the wrangling with the Scottish Government that have stopped this money being invested in the past.”
Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney said the “announcement, though long overdue, is welcome nonetheless”. He added: “We have consistently pressed the UK Government to deliver a pragmatic solution that accelerates the release of funding for renewable-energy projects that are ready to go now in Scotland.”
The announcement was welcomed in the Highlands. Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP Charles Kennedy hailed it as “a step forward for Scotland and the whole UK”.
Highland Council leader Michael Foxley said: “This is excellent news announced on our doorstep at Nigg.”
Colleague Ian Ross, chairman of the council’s planning and development committee, said: “It builds on the recent announcement of the successful acquisition and launch of the Nigg Energy Park – this should make available significant additional resources to support the development of this key economic sector for our area.”
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