SSEN Transmission is delighted to announce today [Wednesday] that an initial £2million of community benefit funding, associated with new electricity transmission infrastructure, has been awarded to organisations across the north of Scotland for the first time.
Covering a variety of projects across the north of Scotland, funding has been awarded to:
Inverness College UHI – £352,000
The creation of a state-of-the-art Sustainable Construction Centre in Inverness, delivering high-quality training to address critical skills shortages across the Highlands and support the region’s transition to net-zero.
North East Scotland College – £150,000
Investment in essential equipment for Aberdeen’s new Energy Transition Skills Hub — the first dedicated educational facility in Scotland designed to meet the growing demand for energy transition training.
Growing2gether – £55,591
A transformative early-intervention programme supporting vulnerable and at-risk young people. Through mentoring and youth-led social action, the initiative aims to enhance mental health, boost educational attainment, and build vital life skills.
Kyle & Lochalsh Community Trust – £361,989
The construction of a longhouse-style heritage centre, serving as both a learning hub for endangered and traditional skills and a museum celebrating the rich history of the local area.
Regional Screen Scotland – £350,000
Funding for a new mobile cinema, bringing high-quality film experiences to over 40 remote communities across the Highlands and Islands. This project aims to foster cultural engagement and combat rural isolation.
Fèis Rois – £181,638
The Fèis Rois programme ensures people of all ages can engage with, learn, and enjoy traditional music and the Gaelic language through a diverse range of activities across Ross & Cromarty and Scotland.
UHI North, West and Hebrides – £110,000
An innovative project creating digital, place-based heritage experiences to showcase and preserve unrecognised archaeological sites in Barra and Harris.
Orkney Construction Training Group – £75,471
A collaborative project developing a modular manufacturing toolkit and two demonstrator modules, equipping community organisations with the resources to help address the rural housing crisis.
THAW Orkney – £295,322
Development of a flexible whole-house retrofit pathway, providing property upgrades to fuel-poor households across a subset of Orkney’s outer isles, to help improve energy efficiency and reduce costs.
North East Scotland Retrofit Hub – £88,000
Strengthening retrofitting capacity in the North East of Scotland by training construction professionals, raising community awareness, and providing in-depth retrofit assessments to improve energy efficiency in homes.
With over £50million-worth of applications, spread between 328 applicants, the independent chair of the fund and former Scottish Government Minister, Peter Peacock, spoke about the thorough selection process and his delight at issuing the first funding awards.
He said: “Today is great news for these fantastic projects, which will help to strengthen communities across the north of Scotland.
“The projects we have been able to fund won through against stiff competition and are all designed to make a real difference to people, places, and cultural life in the north.
“The initiatives funded span the themes the fund is set up to support, by developing people’s skills for employability, keeping disadvantaged young people engaged and learning, enabling new approaches to reduce fuel poverty, enriching our cultural life, and expanding approaches to meeting rural housing needs.
“The panel were very impressed by the range of excellent proposals received and look forward to supporting many more projects in the future as the available funding grows.”
The projects that have been awarded funding after a competitive selection process led by the Regional Fund’s chair, Peter Peacock, all support SSEN Transmission’s aim to bring a positive benefit and a long-lasting legacy to the communities where the business operates, and are aligned with the fund’s core priorities, which are:
People: Helping people to develop new skills, access training, and find employment pathways.
Place: Preserving important spaces, celebrating cultural heritage, and promoting local traditions.
Fuel Poverty:
Seeking strategic ways to alleviate fuel poverty across the north of Scotland.
Between September and November, groups throughout SSEN Transmission’s network area* had the opportunity to apply for a share of the funding being released from the company’s opening £10m fund, from a minimum amount of £40,000 to a maximum of £500,000.
Speaking as the first awards for the fund were announced, SSEN Transmission’s Director of Customers and Stakeholders, Christianna Logan, said: “At SSEN Transmission we’re delighted to be awarding the first £2m of funding to some incredible projects, after the overwhelming response to the launch of our fund demonstrated the appetite in the north of Scotland for realising the huge opportunity for communities that comes with the delivery of new electricity transmission infrastructure.
“We’re committed to generating real, sustainable value by investing in projects that enrich lives and strengthen communities – and today’s announcement is just the start.
“We anticipate that our ‘Pathway to 2030’ investment programme will generate upwards of £100million in community benefit funding for communities right across the north of Scotland – helping to create a legacy from our investment in electricity infrastructure that will resonate for generations to come.”
Based on initial indications from the UK Government, SSEN Transmission anticipates that over £100million in community benefit funding will be delivered in communities through its £20billion investment to upgrade the transmission network across the north of Scotland in support of Scotland and the UK’s energy security and clean power ambitions.
Further information about SSEN Transmission’s community benefit funding can be found here: www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/communitybenefit