By Rosie Niven | 18 August 2014
Loans for a project to power some 20,000 Scottish homes and a whisky distillery through biomass energy will be guaranteed by the government, it has been confirmed.
The Treasury said it would guarantee bonds worth up to £48.5m for the Speyside Biomass Power project located in Moray, Scotland.
The biomass power station will supply electricity to more than 20,000 homes and provide green energy for the Macallan whisky distillery.
The distillery will use the heat generated by the plant in the form of steam, a critical component of the distillation process.
Carbon savings resulting from the plant equates to taking over 18,000 cars off the road. The project will also create 123 jobs.
The total funding required is £74m, with the balance provided by John Laing and the Green Investment Bank who will make respective £13.5m and £13m equity investments in the project. This is the latest project to be supported by the UK Guarantees scheme where the government acts as a loan guarantor to major infrastructure investments.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said that more than £1bn of infrastructure projects have now been brought forward as a result of the UK guarantees scheme.
‘The Speyside guarantee is fantastic news for Scotland’s economic future,’ he added.
‘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.’
