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The fund will disburse £103 million over the spending review period; with flexibility on the annual spend to reflect industry needs. The indicative allocation for 2012 -13 was £16 million, based on the prospect of a significant investment in the marine sector. Actual spend is anticipated to be some £1.8 million.

In terms of the wider picture of investment into the renewables industry more generally Scottish Renewables have recently published an assessment of investment into renewables in 2011. This is based on the capacity installed in each technology multiplied by estimates of capital cost per Mega Watt. Their analysis shows projects with a total capital cost of £757.2 million were commissioned in 2011. Similar analysis for the first nine months of 2012, shows that this exceeded over £1.3 billion.

Scottish Renewables also undertook more detailed assessment of investment into offshore wind and this research shows that £164.5 million has been invested in the Scottish economy by the six companies currently developing offshore wind projects in the Scottish Renewable Energy Zone with more than one third of this investment (£63.66 million) delivered in 2012.

The phasing of expenditure on the REIF will reflect the needs of industry and community developers. Scotland is enjoying record activity and investment in renewable energy. We exceeded our interim target to generate 31% of our energy requirement by 2011 by some 4%. Scottish renewables have shown that investment in Scotland’s renewable energy industry topped £900 million pounds in the first six months of 2012, putting it well on track to reach £1 billion over the course of the whole year.

All applications to REIF are assessed for their additional socio- economic impact through consideration of the scale and nature of benefits, (renewable energy generated/ electricity decarbonised, Gross Value Added/ jobs created, community benefits and private investment levered), the extent to which these benefits are additional, (i.e. would not be realised in the absence of REIF monies), supply chain benefits, the concentration of benefits within Scotland and the effect on existing economic activity.

Since launched in October 2012, there has been a good level of interest in REIF from a wide variety of sources with 95 enquiries received which have been, or are being, considered by the REIF delivery team covering all priority sectors; of these, some have been declined as being unsuitable, others are still at an early information enquiry stage. Several of these are expected to progress through to active and live projects during the course of the fund.

National Renewables Investment Fund forms part of a suite of support that Scottish Enterprise and Highland and Islands Enterprise have in place to assist the development of this new industry in Scotland. Investment in manufacturing sites is critical to securing the manufacturing element of this overall benefit to the economy.

National Renewables Infrastructure Fund is available to all ports that meet the criteria for funding.

REIF has to date offered support to three deals alongside significant private sector investment. A strong pipeline of projects is under consideration.

The funding for renewable energy projects through the Renewable Energy Investment Fund has been re-profiled to reflect industry needs. In line with the overall economic strategy set out within the Draft Budget, the assessment was that the maximum benefit to the economy and jobs would be through redirecting any unused funding to alternative short term uses, such as the additional shovel ready projects announced in June and December 2012, whilst ensuring the funding will be available in the medium term when required for renewable projects.