A CONSERVATIVE candidate in this May’s East Ayrshire Council election says Cumnock’s Community Renewable Energy Project – CoRE – will be a “massive boost” to the area.
The Knockroon scheme is set to make Cumnock and the surrounding area one of Scotland’s green energy hotspots from 2024, creating new jobs and educational opportunities in the area as part of the £251 million Ayrshire Growth Deal.
The project will receive £17 million in funding from Neill Watts’ Conservative colleagues in the UK Government.
East Ayrshire Council have also supported this initiative to the tune of £7.5 million.
Knockroon will be the location for the ground-breaking, world-leading energy project which will revolutionise how renewable energy supplies are generated, stored and used by communities in the local area.
Mr Watts, who is standing for the Scottish Conservatives in the Cumnock and New Cumnock ward in the May 5 poll, said: “This is fantastic news for the community in Cumnock and the surrounding area.
“Once established the CoRE project will bring many benefits and advantages to our local community including education, jobs and new businesses.
“The support for our community from the UK Government is fantastic!”
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Conservative and Unionist Candidate in the May Elections Neill Watts believe Cumnock’s Community Renewable Energy (CoRE) Project will be a massive boost to the community.
Recent, he was joined by the Conservative Councillor for Ballochmyle Ward, Cllr. Alyson Simmons at the site of the CoRE Project at Knockroon in Cumnock.
Cumnock is due to become the green energy capital of Scotland from 2024 thanks to £17M of funding from the UK Government, as well as providing ‘new’ Jobs and Educational Opportunities locally.
The scheme aims to make Cumnock a ‘low carbon town’, and one which can show other towns in Scotland and across the UK how to become self-sufficient by getting all its energy needs from local sources, such as using former mining sites to extract heat from rocks under ground.
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It also aims to explore ways the surplus wind energy already being generated in the area can be used at a lower price to benefit local people.
Knockroon itself will also become the site of a nationally-significant centre of academic research and innovation on renewable energy.
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It is hoped that the project will be completed by 2024, with the building of the centre of excellence and demonstration projects to begin next year.
East Ayrshire Council says the scheme – which aims to capitalise on the area’s geothermal, hydro, wind, hydrogen and solar power potential – will play a key role in helping reach the authority’s target of being a ‘zero carbon area’ by 2045.
More information on the CoRE project can be found here.
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