£6m for groups in Caithness, Sutherland and Moray from seven years of Beatrice funding
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A community fund linked to the Beatrice offshore wind farm has handed over £6 million to groups in Caithness, Sutherland and Moray in the past seven years.
The figure is given in a new social impact report into the Beatrice Community Fund (BCF), which was established in 2016/17 during construction of the 84-turbine Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm Ltd (BOWL) project off the east Caithness coast.
The report, entitled Sharing the Benefit of Offshore Wind, revealed that the BCF provided funding for 361 community projects. It helped create 73 rural jobs, deliver 22 net-zero projects and enhance 64 community assets over the seven-year period.
The fund aimed to support activities that enhanced communities and helped build stronger local economies.
Fund manager Morven Smith said: “We pride ourselves on our work with communities and the Beatrice Community Fund has supported the prosperity and growth of the Caithness, Sutherland and Moray regions. We had a primary impact focus for the BCF which aimed to promote prosperity, tackle climate change and encourage economic growth.
“The BCF helped secure funding in often very rural regions to help them grow sustainably into the future and we hope the BCF leaves a lasting impact for years to come, from enabling rural communities to have high-quality broadband to establishing skills projects for young people and developing vital infrastructure projects.”
The fund had two components – the partnership fund, which supported larger projects with funding decisions made by a panel of experts from the regions, and local funds, which focused on the community council areas nearest to the BOWL infrastructure. These funding decisions were made by panels of local people.
The Beatrice offshore wind farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Red Rock Power, The Renewables Infrastructure Group and Equitix. SSE Renewables operates both the wind farm and the BCF on behalf of the joint venture partners.
When asked why the funding was now coming to an end, a spokesperson for SSE Renewables said: "The funding duration was identified in consultation with local stakeholders and it was identified that a shorter fund with higher financial volume would have more impact for the local area."
