Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail any support that is available to the food and drink sector to transition to low-carbon refrigeration.
Minister for the Economy: Financial and technical advice is made available through the Energy and Resource Efficiency Programme, helping businesses in the North to decarbonise.
The programme includes technical advice, sustainability planning and support for capital investments, which enable businesses to achieve cost, carbon, material and energy savings, thus boosting productivity.
The strands of support within the programme include; Technical Consultancy, Sustainability Reports, Resource Matching through Industrial Symbiosis, the Resource Efficiency Capital Grant and the Energy Efficiency Capital Grant (EECG).
Although EECG is currently paused to new applications, discussions between DfE and Invest NI on the best way forward for the scheme are ongoing.
Invest NI plays a crucial role in supporting businesses in the North to optimise the opportunities emerging in the green economy:
Industrial Decarbonisation for Northern Ireland (IDNI) project. IDNI is addressing three strategic priorities: reducing emissions, enhancing regional balance, and boosting productivity. The project identified the potential to save over £26 million in energy costs; and reduce more than 69,000 tonnes of carbon annually.
Shared Island Sustainability Capital Grant. A pilot scheme supported three companies in the North with combined grant funding approaching £8m to decarbonise their sites using novel and innovative solutions, addressing sustainability challenges, and delivering environmental improvements. The pilot was part of the Shared Island Enterprise Scheme, developed by InterTradeIreland, Invest NI and Enterprise Ireland and is designed to help businesses from both the North and South of Ireland. Invest NI, IntertradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland are currently in on-going discussions regarding the potential to launch another scheme later this year.
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