The Cornwall and
the Isles of Scilly LEP has been allocated £14.3m from the GBF for a
wide-ranging package of projects that will deliver a much-needed boost to the
local economy.
The projects were
chosen following strict government criteria around deliverability in the next
18 months, value for money and their fit with the LEP’s Local Industrial Strategy.
In the Cornwall and
the Isles of Scilly LEP, the funded projects are expected to deliver a new and
greener economic recovery through new retrofitting schemes, advanced & greener
manufacturing, higher productive capacity and town centre rejuvenation. This will
provide economic security to more of the population whilst promoting a greener agenda.
This fits with the LEP’s key priorities by focusing on key emerging industries –
such as Data and Space – whilst ensuring economic growth remains as clean, circular
and inclusive.
The £14.3m GBF
investment will attract a further £44.6m of public and private sector match
funding, representing a total investment of almost £59m, supporting 1,100 jobs
and furthering a number of Cornwall’s green recovery ambitions around renewable
energy technologies, geo-resources and sustainability.
Summary of projects
Social Housing Retrofit Acceleration
Lead by Cornwall Council (CC), this project is piloting a Whole House
Retrofit Innovation (WHRI) scheme in the County. Working with SSE (ECO
provider) CC are developing a delivery model for reducing the cost of
delivering WHR retrofit at scale. By the end of January 2022, the project aims
to deliver over 650 domestic retrofits, which will also lead to over 430,000 kg
of CO2 savings.
Councillor Andrew Mitchell, Cornwall’s cabinet member for homes, said: “This project involves fitting solar panels to 600 Cornwall Council homes, alongside whole house retrofits for 42 Council homes, expanding our recently announced 83 home Whole House Retrofit Innovation pilot. The planned upgrades, which will significantly reduce energy bills for Council tenants, represents an important further step in our plan to make the Council’s homes warmer and greener - a key priority of our ambitious climate emergency programme which we are accelerating as part of our Covid recovery plans.
Cornwall Institute of Space AI and Receiver Factory Goonhilly
Working with university delivery partners, the Goonhilly Institute of Space
and other project leads are working on the development of an advanced
manufacturing and test facility (Receiver Factory) to achieve production,
installation and commissioning of radio astronomy and space telecommunication
receivers into new and existing markets. The facilities would complement the
Spaceport Cornwall initiative – and further cement Cornwall’s emerging status
as a leading location for the space sector in the UK and Europe.
Ian Jones, Chief Executive of Goonhilly Earth Station, said: “The
Getting Building Fund will support a unique opportunity to bring together the
important existing telecommunications assets at Goonhilly alongside investment
in state-of-the-art testing and manufacturing. This is an important move
forward in Cornwall’s ‘space’ journey developing new capabilities in invention,
build and production for a growing global market. This will establish Goonhilly
as the premier UK site for satellite receiver manufacture combined with
innovation in artificial intelligence and machine learning.”
Saputo Dairy UK – Project Generation Capacity &
Infrastructure
This project plans for cheese (and associated Demin Whey) volumes to
increase by 12,000t over the next 3 years with a further 4,000t of GOS (a form
of prebiotic) being produced primarily for export markets. In order to secure
this growth in a sustainable way, investment will be provided into supporting infrastructures
that will be able to both drive increased capacity whilst ensuring
environmental compliance. This will safeguard 200 jobs and save over 4000kg of
carbon emissions.
Hall For Cornwall (HFC)
This project is creating a purpose-built, accessible theatre with up to
1300 seats and destination bars and cafes and new workspace for the Creative
Industries in Truro. This will provide a
quality public programme, generate more profit to extend the successful youth
programmes and invest in the local workforce, supply chain and associate
companies. Audiences will increase to over 300,000 a year, driving valuable
footfall to Truro city centre; supporting both the immediate bounce back and longer-term
vitality of the high street in Truro
Aerospace/Space Hangar, Cornwall Airport Newquay
An investment in a strategic facility provided by Cornwall Airport (Newquay),
this property will be available to lease to businesses in the satellite and
space sectors, or directly to Spaceport Cornwall who can share the facility
with multiple operators. The new facility will support the UK Space Agency’s
decision to pick Newquay for horizontal satellite launches. This will help to
create new rental revenue and generate additional business rates income for the
LEP Enterprise Zone that will be used for reinvestment and growth.
Truro and Penwith North and East Cornwall STEM Skills Centre
Truro & Penwith College is applying for capital investment to develop
a specialist STEM Skills Centre on land adjacent to the Callywith Campus. The
Skills Centre will offer Ofsted Outstanding and industry-relevant provision in
Health Sciences, Digital, Engineering and Manufacturing from Levels 2 to 5 for
post compulsory and adult learners, including T-Levels. This will be located in
a traditional 'cold spot' for educational infrastructure and participation and
will help to enhance human capital in North and East Cornwall, generating
‘clean and inclusive’ economic growth.
Lithium Recovery Plant
Cornish Lithium and Geothermal Engineering are teaming up to build a
zero carbon, lithium extraction pilot plant at an existing site in Cornwall.
The aim is to demonstrate that lithium can be produced from geothermal brine
with no carbon footprint. This work is of vital importance to the Green /
Battery led Economy in the UK, to energy / raw material security and to
economic regeneration in Cornwall. If the project is successful, then the construction
of larger facilities at a number of sites across Cornwall are planned.
Jeremy Wrathall, Founder and CEO of Cornish Lithium, said: “Cornish Lithium is delighted to be involved in this project alongside GEL given the potential to establish a new industry for Cornwall. The funding will significantly accelerate our work to demonstrate that lithium can be produced in a sustainable, zero-carbon, manner and will enable us to fast-track similar projects in other locations across Cornwall once the plant has been completed. We believe that Cornwall has the potential to become the “battery metals hub” for the UK, thus continuing a 4000 year history of metal production and industrial innovation.”
Dr Ryan Law, Managing Director of Geothermal Engineering Ltd, said: “We
have made significant strides in establishing the UK’s first deep geothermal
power plant in the UK. The possibility of developing future sites that include
co-production of lithium extraction is very exciting and a great opportunity
for both companies and Cornwall as a whole. We believe Cornwall’s untapped
natural resources are significant, and are delighted to be partnering with
Cornish Lithium to maximise the synergies between the two technologies in order
to unlock this potential.”
Indicative outputs
Direct Jobs Created
|
151
|
Construction Jobs Created
|
306
|
Jobs Safeguarded
|
230
|
Commercial Space Unlocked (sqm)
|
2664
|
New Learning Space Unlocked
|
1918
|
Businesses Assisted
|
150
|
Improved Learning/ Training Space Unlocked
|
1918
|
Public Realm/ Green Space Created
|
2947
|
CO2 emissions saved (kg)
|
568,230
|
The outputs listed are locally reported and will undergo further quality assurance before being finalised and confirmed in grant offer letters