New infrastructure guarantee for Speyside renewable energy plan issued by Treasury
This is the latest project to be supported by the UK Guarantees scheme where the UK government act as a loan guarantor to major infrastructure investments.
The Treasury today confirmed it will guarantee bonds worth up to £48.5 million for the Speyside Biomass Power project located in Moray, Scotland.
The biomass power station will supply electricity to power more than 20,000 homes and provide green energy for one of Scotland’s most iconic whisky distilleries, Macallan.
The world famous distillery will use the heat generated by the plant in the form of steam, a critical component of the distillation process.
Together, the carbon saving equates to taking over 18,000 cars off the road. The project will also create 123 jobs (100 in peak construction and 23 permanent) and support one of Scotland’s most important export industries.
The total funding required is £74 million, with the balance provided by John Laing and the Green Investment Bank who will make respective £13.5 million and £13 million equity investments in the project.
This is the latest project to be supported by the UK Guarantees scheme where the UK government act as a loan guarantor to major infrastructure investments across energy, transport, communications, waste and housing.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Rt Hon. Danny Alexander MP said:
The Speyside guarantee is fantastic news for Scotland’s economic future.
It will power thousands of homes with clean energy, and also support the whisky industry, a cornerstone of our economy, which brings in billions for Scotland and employs over 10,000 people.
Today, over £1 billion of infrastructure projects have now been brought forward as a result of the UK guarantees scheme and £36 billion worth of projects are pre qualified.
Our action is creating the right conditions for more investment in our infrastructure and helping to build a stronger economy.