HIE Green grant fund

What is it?

Our Green Grant Fund aims to support businesses and social enterprises across the Highlands and Islands to transition to net zero.

The funding is a non-repayable grant of up to £250,000, which will cover between 10% and 40% of the total cost of a project. The minimum grant award is £20,000. Projects with a total cost of £50,000 or less are therefore unlikely to be eligible.

Projects can include anything that helps businesses and social enterprises to reduce carbon emissions and make progress towards achieving net zero, for example through energy efficiency measures, renewables, or waste management.

We will prioritise projects based in remote and rural areas where applicants may be eligible for up to 50% funding.

HIE’s contribution to projects will be based on the financial need of the business or social enterprise. Applicants will be required to provide financial information on request to allow an assessment to be made.

What can the grant be used for?

The funding can be used towards capital investment, including but not limited to, purchasing equipment, fixtures, fittings and installation costs. You will need to demonstrate that the funding will reduce your carbon emissions.

Suggested uses include: 

Upgrading the efficiency of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning:

• Building management systems
• Condensing, combination, modular and steam boilers
• Cooling system replacement/ upgrade

Building Fabric:

• Improving insulation in the walls, floor and roof of your building
• Draught proofing 
• Installing high performance external and internal doors or double/secondary glazing

Other Equipment:

• Purchase and/or installation of LED Lighting (can only be supported where this forms part of a larger project to reduce carbon emissions i.e. in conjunction with other suggested uses of the fund) 
• Introduction of monitoring, measuring and control equipment to help you manage emissions
• Replacement of business equipment or machinery with more energy efficient systems

Renewables Systems:

• Renewable heat technologies such as installing air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, or solar thermal system
• Purchase and/or installation of renewable energy generating devices where there is on-site energy storage capability, for example wind turbines and solar PV. There is no requirement to have battery storage in place prior to application, however we are unable to support renewable generation projects where energy not used by the organisation is sold to the grid.(Solar PV can only be supported where it forms part of a larger project to reduce carbon emissions i.e. in conjunction with other suggested uses of the fund)
• Battery storage

Supporting sustainable travel:

• Installing EV charging infrastructure on premises for vehicles owned or leased by the organisation and where there is a demonstrable associated reduction in petrol/diesel consumption. Installation must not be primarily for use by the public, customers or commuting staff  

Waste minimisation, recovery, and reprocessing:

• To apply for support in this area you will need to provide actual rather than estimated emissions  data on wastage i.e. you will need to have measured the emissions for the previous 12 months prior to application.
• Projects that will result in a reduction in waste production
• Introduction of new equipment that provides new opportunities or improves current practices for reusing waste through recovery and reprocessing
• Projects that close the loop on resources that would otherwise be wasted (circular economy) e.g. anaerobic digestion plant

What can the funding NOT be used for?

The funding can not be used for the following:

• Projects that have already started at the time of submitting an expression of interest.  Any costs that have been invoiced to the applicant or paid by the applicant prior to submitting an expression of interest will not be eligible for funding.
• The purchase of electric vehicles including bikes and cars.
• Purchase and/or installation of EV charging points where the primary use is for public, customer or staff commuter use.
• Replacement of one fossil fuel technology/system with another fossil fuel technology/system where there is no realistic opportunity to change out the fuel type in future.
• Support for housing.
• Waste management costs involving a third party.
• Audio-visual equipment including televisions, laptops/ computers, cameras etc.
• Renewable energy systems where the applicant will receive a subsidy and/or intend to sell electricity to the grid. 
• Projects where the introduction of new technology results in an increase in carbon emissions.*
• Refurbishment of derelict or unused buildings - taking a derelict or unused building into use by refurbishing it, will in most cases increase the carbon footprint of the building.*

*These projects may have net zero ambitions but as they are new or additional to your current activity, they can increase your carbon footprint.  If you have a project like this, please submit an enquiry and you will be directed to a development manager who will discuss other sources of support with you.

Who’s eligible?

To be eligible for the grant, your organisation must:

• Be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME). For a definition of an SME, please see this guide.
• Businesses based in the Inner Moray Firth area must have at least 10 Full Time Equivalent Employees (FTEs).  Businesses based in other parts of the Highlands and Islands region must employ at least 5 FTEs. There are no restrictions for social enterprise applicants.
• Have been trading for at least 12 months (start date determined by date of incorporation or registered with HMRC if an unincorporated organisation). All applicants will be required to undertake a carbon baselining exercise which involves providing data for the previous 12 months in operation. 
• Applicants from most sectors can apply but there are exceptions, please see ‘who is not eligible’ below.
• Own its own premises in the Highlands and Islands or have written permission from your landlord to make changes to the premises and seek planning permission from your Local Authority to implement the works detailed in your application. Evidence should be provided along with planning permissions and any other building consent required.
• Undertake its business activity in the Highlands and Islands and be liable for non-domestic rates.

Businesses and social enterprises that applied to the previous Green Grant Fund are welcome to apply to this new programme of funding.

Applicants must comply with HIE’s fair work conditions for grant support. For more information, please visit our fair work page. If you want to speak to someone about this requirement or need more information, please email enquiries@hient.co.uk

If your Expression of Interest proceeds to full application (stage 2) you will need to have measured your corporate carbon footprint for at least Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and scope 3*** if your project involves waste management. As a minimum we recommend using a recognised foot printing tool or methodology such as the Scottish Business Climate Collaboration. You may also wish to work with a consultant who can provide your business with a carbon emissions and savings report. We recommend 
Business Energy Scotland. Social Enterprises can also access support from Local Energy Scotland

. 
The final grant will be subject to specific Terms and Conditions set out in an individual grant award letter.

 ***Here’s what Scope 1,Scope 2 and Scope 3 classification means:

• Scope 1 emissions are the direct emissions that come from sources that are owned or controlled by the business itself. These emissions are generated because of the business’s activities or operations. For example, if a business has its own manufacturing facility and burns fossil fuels for energy or heat, the emissions produced from that burning process would be considered scope 1 emissions. Similarly, if a company has a fleet of vehicles that run on petrol or diesel, the emissions from those vehicles would also fall under the scope 1 definition. In summary, scope 1 covers fossil fuel use in buildings and vehicles owned by the business i.e., use of gas, oil, LPG, petrol, diesel etc.
• Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions that arise from the generation of purchased electricity, heat, or steam that the business consumes. These emissions occur during the production of the energy that the organisation uses, but they are not directly generated by the business itself. For instance, if a company uses grid supplied electricity (as most do), this is made up of a mix of generation sources including gas, nuclear and renewables, so the emissions associated with generating that electricity would be considered scope 2 emissions for the purchasing organisation.
• Scope 3 emissions are all indirect emissions (aside from those accounted for under scope 2) from the value chain of an organisation and looks at both upstream and downstream activities. Full information on scope 3 reporting can be seen in the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain Accounting Standard.

Who is not eligible

• Individual enterprises or those who are part of a group that are large enterprises, are not eligible (definition of a large enterprise noted above).
• Businesses and social enterprises operating primarily in the retail,  food and beverage service or personal services sector (e.g., shops, pubs, cafes, restaurants, hairdressers, beauticians, alternative therapist etc.) or business services sector (lawyers, accountants etc.).
• Accommodation businesses operating from an applicant’s own home (e.g., B&B or AirBnB- type businesses) are not eligible.
• Organisations which are primarily core funded by the public sector are not eligible (core funding does not include project funding and service level agreements with the public sector).

If you're unsure whether or not your business would be eligible, you can get in touch with us by emailing enquiries@hient.co.uk.

Application timeline

The application process follows a two-stage process.

The first stage is to complete the online Expression of Interest Form (EOI)

You will hear the outcome of your EOI within 4 weeks of applying. If your EOI is unsuccessful 
we will tell you why and we will signpost you to other forms of support where possible. If your 
EOI is successful, you will be allocated a development manager who will guide you through the
online application process.  

How to apply

• Complete and submit EOI form (must be through the EOI and not an email or general enquiry)
• On the EOI form, please provide an overview of your project, outlining what you will use the money for so that we can assess at an early stage if your project is eligible or not.
• As part of the application process, you will be required to provide a net zero action plan outlining how you aim to reduce your carbon emissions to net zero by 2045.  The plan should contain a breakdown of your current carbon footprint and how the organisation plans to reduce this over the period to 2045.  If you require support in this area the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI) has a  Climate Springboard programme designed to support organisations with their baselining and net zero action plan creation. If you would just like support with baselining please contact Business Energy Scotland, or access a recognised baselining methodology tool such as the Scottish Business Climate Collaboration suite of resources or the SME climate Hub. For social enterprises there is also support from Local Energy Scotland.
• Full grant applications will also need to supply supporting documentation. This includes copies of historic accounts, financial projections, business plans, evidence of quotes for goods and services; details of your current carbon footprint and details of any carbon savings that will result as part of the investment etc.
• As noted above, evidence that you own the premises which forms part of the project or have written permission from your landlord to make changes; planning permission from your Local Authority to implement the works detailed in your application and any other building consent as required.

THE SMALL PRINT - THIS IS IMPORTANT

All HIE grant assistance is discretionary. Grant awards are subject to due diligence and budget availability. Due diligence includes making an assessment on the need for public funding; the viability of the business going forward; the ability of the applicant to deliver the project; the impact of the development on the economy, subsidy control considerations and the strength of the business case presented to HIE.

Making an application to the scheme does not guarantee that your application will be successful. If you are not successful in your application or are only partially successful e.g. you receive funding of a lesser amount than you applied for, we will arrange a call with you to let you know why you have been unsuccessful and point you in the direction of other possible sources of funding.

There is NO appeals process. We are unable to consider a complaint purely relating to dissatisfaction as to the outcome of a funding decision.  However, if you have identified a specific process failure relating to your application then you may wish to make a formal complaint.  See our formal complaints process for more information.