The council's renewable energy network took home the Scottish Government's Delivering Excellence Award.

The award was presented at the COSLA Excellence Awards, which celebrate the achievements of Scottish local government in serving communities.

Renfrewshire Council's District Heating Network (DHN) at the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) was the winner, surpassing competitors Inverclyde Council and Shetland Islands Council.

The DHN supplies heating and hot water to businesses at the Renfrewshire site, including the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland and the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre.

Renfrewshire Council's District Heating Network (DHN) at the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS)  (Image: Renfrewshire Council) The network extracts low-temperature heat from treated water, creating energy that is 90 per cent greener than a gas boiler for all current and future developments within AMIDS.

Iain Nicolson, leader of Renfrewshire Council, said: "It’s fantastic to see this state-of-the-art project gaining the recognition it deserves as it is able to deliver environmental and economic benefits to AMIDS and the businesses based within it.

"The network is helping businesses to manufacture in a cleaner, greener way, using renewable energy to support their drive to meet net-zero goals, while being cost-effective too.

"It is available to all current and future AMIDS tenants and is a real selling point for the district to attract new investment into the area as we continue to position Renfrewshire as Scotland’s home for manufacturing innovation."

The COSLA Excellence Awards are an annual celebration of success and innovation in Scottish local government, with more than 200 applications submitted this year.

Councillor Shona Morrison, president of COSLA and chair of the 2024 Excellence Awards, said: "I’d like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our winners.

“This year’s entries and winners highlighted how important it is that we work collaboratively across these sectors to deliver for our communities, so I am very glad we were able to bring colleagues together to celebrate these wonderful joint achievements."