Plans for green EV charging hubs: 6 need-to-know business stories

Hello and welcome to our daily digest of business, financial and economic news from around Scotland.

1. A developer of renewable energy assets is launching a dedicated electric vehicles division with plans to build charging hubs around the UK.

Muirhall Energy said its Greenwheel Electric arm has ambitions to open facilities in rural and urban locations.

Jason McCall, the Greenwheel managing director, said the company plans to use Muirhall’s solar and wind assets to offer electric vehicle owners “100 per cent renewable generated power”.

It aims to partner with local businesses at the charging hubs to offer high quality food, drink and retail options while drivers wait.

2.A Fife whisky-maker is investing in facilities to double its production and move to cleaner fuel.

Inchdairnie Distillery plans to add new stills and warehouses at its site in Glenrothes, increasing production capacity to four million litres a year.

It also plans to switch from gas to green hydrogen and aims to complete the move by 2027.

Ian Palmer, founder of the distillery, which began making whisky in 2015, said: “The installation of the new infrastructure at the distillery is testament to the quality of spirit that we are producing here in Fife, and have done for a decade.”

3. A biotechnology firm has raised £5 million to scale up its novel cell analysis technology.

Cytomos, based in Roslin, Midlothian, has attracted interest from the pharmaceuticals industry for the benchtop cell analyser, named Celledonia.

Its way of looking at single cells is thought to have the potential to improve drug discovery and development processes.

The funding round involved the private investment firms Archangels and Old College Capital, the development agency Scottish Enterprise and the government-owned British Business Bank.

4. The number of green hydrogen projects being developed in Scotland has grown by more than 60 per cent, according to Scottish Enterprise.

The economic development agency said it is tracking more than 100 sites in various stages of development compared with 61 two years ago.

Kate Forbes, the deputy first minister, met business leaders the Hydrogen For Life conference in London and said the government will soon publish a hydrogen export plan

She added: “The development of Scotland’s hydrogen economy can provide economic and social benefits as well as helping us realise our net zero ambitions.

“The potential international trade opportunity from hydrogen is considerable and market signals for the importing of hydrogen are growing strongly.”

5. The space firm Orbex has received a further €5.6 million of funding.

The funding comes through an extension of its agreement with a European Space Agency programme designed to support sustainable space transportation.

The Scottish company said the money will be put towards the first launch of its rocket, named Prime, next year.

Phil Chambers, the chief executive, said the money will “enable us to make the vital next step in our journey”.

6. A first tanker of sustainably produced chemicals has left the Celtic Renewables biorefinery in Grangemouth.

The bioacetone and biobutanol will be used at a processing plant in Chesterfield as part of a deal with Caldic, a chemical distributor.

More than £60 million has been invested in the biorefinery, which uses by-products and waste, including whisky residues and agricultural materials, to produce the green chemicals which can be used instead of products made from oil.

Regular shipments to Caldic have been agreed and Mark Simmers, the Celtic Renewables chief executive, said the company is already looking at larger biorefinery projects.

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