http://www.newenergyworldnetwork.com/renewable-energy-news/by-technology/wind/scotland-launches-70m-renewable-energy-fund.html

A £70m investment fund aimed at securing Scotland’s place at the forefront of the offshore wind industry has been announced by First Minister Alex Salmond.

Speaking at an industry event in Glasgow, Scotland, Salmond said the National Renewables Infrastructure Fund will help strengthen port and manufacturing facilities and bolster the country’s supply chain.
The fund will seek to leverage significant private sector investment over the next four years and help add £7.1bn in value to Scotland’s economy, he said.
The fund will delivered through a partnership of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise until 2015 and used the launch to reiterate his call for the UK government to remove the restrictions on immediate access to the £191m of Scotland’s Fossil Fuel Levy funds generated north of the border to invest in renewable industries.
‘I’m pleased to welcome the renewables industry to Scotland because we are a nation with considerable natural and human resources and the political will needed to deliver a green energy revolution that can build sustainable economic recovery and reduce Europe’s carbon emissions,’ Salmond said.
He said together with the industry, he will continue to press the Treasury to release the Fuel Levy Funds to Scotland.
‘They remain vital for the development of offshore wind and marine power, for heat networks and technology to deliver our renewable heat targets; and vital too for our communities, so they can invest in and benefit from the green economy,’ he said.
National Renewables Infrastructure Plan has already identified the most pressing needs, he said, and will be used to stimulate the market and act decisively to trigger vital capital investment.’
The focus on upgrading the UK’s port infrastructure comes on the back of a £60m commitment by the UK’s central government to work towards this aim, which immediately drew new investment commitments from wind heavyweights Gamesa, Siemens and GE.
Plans for the UK’s Green Investment Bank – to which the coalition government has pledged £1bn – are still being debated, causing criticism from some quarters.
Scottish Enterprise CEO Lena Wilson said, ‘Now is the time to build on Scotland’s position as the leader in global offshore wind development. We have more than a quarter of Europe’s natural wind resources and unrivalled offshore skills thanks to our decades of experience in oil and gas exploration.’
Scotland has the aim of aim of deriving 80 per cent of its electricity demand from renewables by 2020.
Around the UK as a whole, more than 7,000 offshore wind turbines are expected to be constructed off the UK’s coast over the next decade.