EU Announces New Round of Renewables Funding

The European Commission issued a statement saying that it would supply an additional €294 million (£267 million) in grants to encourage the development of renewables as well as carbon capture and storage (CCS) research.

The funding will come from the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR) as part of a larger scheme to distribute a total of €1 billion (£0.9 billion) in grants for various CCS projects, as well as an additional €510 million (£461 million) to help fund nine European offshore wind energy projects.

Powerfuel Ltd has already been promised £164 million of the total grant money which it will use to develop a CCS power plant which will have a capacity of 900 MW. The plant will be constructed at Hatfield in Yorkshire.

A subsidy of Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission, will also be receiving £67 million to construct a new intermediary platform to be placed on its high-voltage current link which has been planned for construction between Shetland and the Scottish mainland.

Additionally, Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm Ltd is getting a total of £36 million for a new wind deployment facility they are currently developing which will test multi MW turbines and allow the company to maximize their manufacturing operations for offshore wind equipment.

Andris Piebalgs, Energy Commissioner, said that this recent access to funding will expedite the investments in energy sectors for renewables as well as help to secure more investments. Additionally, the newly acquired capital will have a positive impact on the UK economy as well.