Plan unveiled to develop major Scottish renewables hub

Monday, Sep 06, 2010

Two services firms have unveiled a £11.75 million ‘master plan' to revive a fabrication yard at Kishorn in West Scotland and turn it into a major hub for the manufacturing, assembly and construction of offshore renewables.

The proposal would see quarry and construction products company Leiths and logistics firm Ferguson Transport develop the Kishorn yard and dry dock. The venture will be known as Kishorn Port Limited and is expected to focus on offshore wind turbine construction and the wave and tidal industry.

Development would be broken into two-phases, the first costing around £2.75 million to restore existing infrastructure at the site and the second, set to cost £9 million, to invest in new buildings, equipment power and other resources.

The Kishorn yard was one of 11 sites earmarked by the Scottish Government in its February 2010 National Renewables Infrastructure Plan that could become a basis for offshore renewables development in the country (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story).

And, Kishorn Port Limited claim that the site, which would form part of the ‘West Scottish Cluster' of sites identified, could be developed for less investment than the other locations named in the report.

Alasdair Ferguson, director of Kishorn Port Limited, said: "Kishorn is a sleeping giant of a manufacturing and service hub for renewables, with the potential to create hundreds of skilled jobs for the West Highlands in sectors like engineering, fabrication and transport.

"And it's a light sleeper too - because of huge investment in the past, the initial estimated cost to restore the infrastructure - in phase one of our masterplan - is just £2.75 million, compared to between £5million and £65 million for the other nominated sites around Scotland."

Both Leiths and Ferguson Transport have existing freight and quarry business operations at Kishorn site and have acquired a mixture of ownership and rights to its range of facilities. These include a dry dock, 26 acres of hard standing, slipway and four deepwater quays.

Source: NewEnergyFocus