More Green Energy Jobs for Scotland

First Minister Alex Salmond visited the future site of the 45 megawatt combined heat and power biomass plant in Markinch, Glenrothes where he met with representatives from energy supplier RWE npower Cogen and papermaker firm Tullis Russell.

The joint venture will be built and operated by RWE npower Cogen, creating 30 new jobs, and will provide Tullis Russell with steam and electricity, safeguarding a further 540 jobs while reducing the papermill's carbon emissions by around 250,000 tonnes each year.

The First Minister said: "This is tremendously exciting with huge economic and environmental benefits for Scotland. The Scottish Government has fully supported the partnership working of these two leading, international companies, RWE npower Cogen and Tullis Russell.

"The new biomass plant in Markinch is a significant investment in Scotland and pays testament to our competitive advantage in terms of skills and workforce and the development of energy supplies that are cleaner, greener and economically competitive.

"I am delighted that we have attracted and secured this significant investment. This project complements the Scottish Government's work to make Scotland a greener, wealthier and fairer place to live and do business in. This announcement points the way to the future and shows the resilience of the Scottish economy in the face of international financial pressure."

Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) is the Scottish Government's main national scheme of financial assistance to industry. It provides discretionary grants for investment projects that will create or safeguard jobs in Assisted Areas - areas designated for regional aid under European Community law.

Payments of RSA are made in instalments, typically over years, provided that job and project expenditure targets are met. The £8.1 million grant quoted above represents the maximum grant potentially available if the project is satisfactorily completed, and not the amount actually paid to date. All job numbers are based on firms' forecast figures at the time a grant is offered and are subject to change, depending on future economic conditions and other factors affecting the business concerned.

The Scottish Government has set a target to produce 31 per cent of electricity demand from renewable sources by 2011, and 50 per cent by 2020.

The Scottish Government's Energy Consents Unit is currently processing 37 renewable project applications - 28 wind farm, 8 hydro and 1 wave project. Current installed renewable capacity in Scotland totals 2.8 Gigawatts (GW). 1.2 GW of renewable capacity is currently consented and under construction. Current renewable applications to Ministers under section 36 of the Electricity Act amount to over 2.5 Gigawatts, which, in line with processes for environmental assessment, public consultation and where appropriate public local inquiry, are all at various stages of the consents process and still to be determined. The Energy Consents Unit has also provided pre-application scoping opinions for a further 1.4 Gigawatts of potential renewable development.

To give a scale of the potential energy quantities involved, 5 Gigawatts will provide 31 per-cent of total electricity consumption in Scotland (the target for 2011) and 8 Gigawatts will provide 50 per-cent of total electricity consumption (the target for 2020).

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