£11m backing for Scottish public sector

UK: The Scottish government has announced £11m in grant funding to accelerate the decarbonisation of public sector properties.

The University of Edinburgh, Fife Council and North Lanarkshire Council are among the first seven projects to share grants for clean heating and energy efficiency improvements totalling £11m from the the government’s £20m public sector heat decarbonisation fund.

The funding, to support the ambition to reach net zero by 2045, is the first time direct grant awards have been made to public sector bodies instead of loans.

A recent Scottish Government consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill asked for views on a possible requirement for all buildings owned by a Scottish public authority to move to clean heating systems by the end of 2038. There are currently around 23,000 buildings in public ownership.

Zero carbon buildings minister Patrick Harvie insisted that the Scottish government was “absolutely committed” to addressing Scotland’s reliance on direct emission heating systems and has consulted on ambitious proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill.

“We have made clear that we want all public sector buildings to have moved to clean heat by the end of 2038,” Harvie said. “We expect the public sector to demonstrate leadership in this area and I am therefore very pleased to be able to confirm these first awards from the fund.”

The University of Edinburgh will receive £2.08m to support the reduction of heat demand at its King’s Buildings campus, home to the College of Science and Engineering, including through fabric insulation and pipework insulation upgrades.

The project will also take steps towards the decarbonisation of heat supply. A heat pump will recycle waste heat from one of the University’s data centres and upgrade it for use within a local district heating network.  

Fife Council will receive £2,404,911 for the installation of a combination of air-to-water heat pumps and water source heat pumps as the primary heat source at St Andrew’s RC High School and Beacon Leisure Centre.

A £324,546 grant to Perth & Kinross Council will upgrade the existing heating supply via the installation of two air source heat pumps and the installation of a building management system at Auchtergaven Primary School, Bankfoot.

Edinburgh Napier University will receive £1,241,966 for the removal of gas-based fossil fuel heating system as part of retrofit including mechanical ventilation and heat recovery, a sustainable innovative curtain wall system, a solar PV integrated roof system and a sustainable LED ready lighting control system.

Dumfries and Galloway Council will receive £2,500,000 to replace a mains gas system at Dumfries Ice Bowl with a low emission water source heat pump. It will also incorporate with heat recapture technology to allow heat generated from the refrigeration system to be recovered.