SSEN Distribution has allocated almost £350,000 to 25 not-for-profit groups across the north of Scotland through the 2025 round of its Powering Communities to Net Zero (PCNZ) fund.

Projects span the Highlands, Western Isles, Argyll, Perthshire, Angus, Aberdeen City, Shetland and Aberdeenshire, with grants supporting both decarbonisation and community resilience.

The fund targets two priorities: helping organisations reduce emissions by adopting technologies such as solar panels, battery storage, EV chargers and heat pumps; and strengthening local preparedness for severe weather that can affect electricity supplies and wider community infrastructure.

Successful awards this year include installations of heat pumps and solar panels at community hubs, plus practical resilience measures such as neighbourhood pavement gritters and flood-protection equipment.

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In total, 10 low-carbon technology projects will receive £189,000 and 15 resilience initiatives will share £160,000. A full list of recipients is available on SSEN's website.

SSEN Distribution's Services Director, Eliane Algaard, said: "I'm really heartened to see groups across the north of Scotland submitting excellent applications to fund schemes that'll deliver meaningful benefits to their local communities.

"The variety of applications received has once again been particularly impressive. Whether they're taking the initiative by making plans to be better prepared ahead of severe weather or are investing to cut the carbon emissions from their day-to-day activities, all the communities who submitted applications are to be commended.

"We're proud to be supporting the ambitions of those successful applicants, and we wish them well as they now work to move their projects forward."

The PCNZ fund totals £3 million and is run annually until Spring 2028, concluding at the end of the current ED2 price control period. The fund will reopen for applications in March for the 2026 round, with full details available on SSEN's dedicated webpage.