Two firms in Northern Ireland get a share of over £3.6m UK government funding to become more energy efficient and reduce fossil fuel use

Businesses in Northern Ireland will benefit from a share of more than £3.6 million UK Government funding to reduce their energy costs and cut carbon emissions.

Two winning Northern Ireland businesses – FP McCann Limited and Natural World Products - will receive a share of the funding to help clean up their manufacturing processes and improve their energy efficiency.

This funding is part of a wider government pot of £24.3m funding awarded through the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, (IETF) which supports businesses using high amounts of energy to reduce their fossil fuel using innovative low-carbon technologies. This will help companies save on their energy costs, which in turn will safeguard British jobs and help grow the economy – one of the government’s five priorities.

Magherafelt-based FP McCann Limited is receiving £3.39 million for energy efficiency improvements of the crushing and concrete manufacturing process at its Craigall Quarry in Kilrea.

Natural World Products (NWP) in Dunmurry, a producer of peat-free composts and soil conditioners, is receiving nearly £300,000 for fuel switching projects, replacing diesel-powered plant equipment with more modern and cutting edge equivalents that are fully powered by electricity.

Energy-intensive industries are responsible for 11% of the UK’s total emissions and represent over 70% of UK industrial emissions. While the UK is making excellent progress on the road to net zero, having cut emissions by over 44% since 1990 - decarbonising faster than any other G7 country - it is estimated that industry will need to cut their emissions by two thirds by 2035 for the UK to achieve its net zero target.

Minister for Energy Efficiency Lord Callanan, said: “Some of Northern Ireland’s most vital industries are also those with high energy use. Today (Tuesday), we’re backing them with government funding to use the latest technologies to cut their emissions and their reliance on fossil fuels –helping to future-proof these industries as we grow our green economy.

“This will not only cut their energy costs but also boost their competitiveness on the world stage, helping them thrive and protecting the thousands of jobs they offer across the country.”

Minister of State for Northern Ireland Steve Baker, explained: "Congratulations to FP MCCann and Natural World Products for securing this funding and proactively seeking to lessen the impact of their operations on the environment.

"It's great to see Northern Ireland businesses benefiting from this UKG funding to boost their energy efficiency while cutting down on their use of fossil fuels."

A Natural World Products spokesperson, added: “The funding obtained towards this project under the IETF Deep Decarbonisation competition strand has allowed the company to make significant further greenhouse gas emissions savings at one of its key processing facilities by enabling it to replace a number of key items of diesel-powered plant and equipment with more modern and cutting edge equivalents that are fully powered by electricity, generated by the company’s on-site wind turbines further adding to the carbon capture benefits of the overall project.”

A total of £289 million is being made available to businesses through the IETF up to 2027 and the allocations take amount awarded under the scheme so far to £61.4 million.

The announcement builds on the wide-ranging support that has been made available to energy-intensive industries.

This includes:

Businesses have been supported throughout the winter with £5.6 billion of support, enabling some to only pay around half of the predicted wholesale energy costs.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme has provided a discount on non-domestic (business, public sector and voluntary sector organisations) gas and electricity unit prices. This six-month scheme expired in March 2023.

The Energy Bill Discount Scheme started on 1 April 2023. The new scheme will mean eligible UK businesses and other non-domestic energy users may receive a discount on high energy bills until 31 March 2024.

The Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETII) discount will provide a higher level of support to businesses and organisations in eligible sectors.

The government has provided over £800 million since 2013 to help industrial sectors with energy costs, with many businesses able to bid for competitive funds of over £1.5 billion to support them going green.

The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund is one of many schemes that form part of the government’s commitment to reduce overall UK energy demand by 15% by 2030, alongside the wider ambition for the UK to move towards greater energy independence.