First Minister John Swinney has said he is “deeply concerned” by the decision to cancel grant funding for the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in Aberdeenshire, which he described as an “absolutely central” project for climate action.
The project had been due to receive £200 million in grant funding from the UK Government. However, Chancellor John Healey changed the commitment so that the UK Government would instead offer the same amount in loans or take an equity stake in the project.
Funding Change Sparks Confusion
UK ministers were accused of causing confusion over the funding this week. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds told the BBC: “There hasn’t been a cut to the £200 million, I can reassure you that that commitment stands.”
She added: “That is the grant funding, but there could well be loans or equity stakes taken, because we will need probably additional funding to secure the future of this project.”
First Minister Voices Opposition
Speaking to the Press Association on Friday, Mr Swinney voiced his opposition to the decision. He said: “I raised the issue of Acorn and my concerns about the fact that I think further uncertainty has been created for Acorn.”
“What I understand the position to be is the UK Government has decided not to offer grant funding to the Acorn project, but instead to do that through financial transactions,” he said. “That creates more risk, that creates more uncertainty about the project.”
“The very act of changing the funding mechanism does that, and I am deeply concerned about that because I think the Acorn project is an absolutely central project in relation to our work on climate action and it’s essential that it’s taken forward as part of that agenda and as part of encouraging the reindustrialisation of Scotland.”
