The UK government has announced that it will invest £55.7 million into a Scottish port to make it a major hub for the development of floating offshore wind turbines.
As part of the UK government’s Plan For Change, the Port of Cromarty Firth in Scotland will be expanded, making it the first port in the UK able to make floating wind turbines at scale. The development has been backed by a further grant from the Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS), and the construction process is expected to create up to 320 local jobs.
Once the port becomes fully operational, which is set to take place in 2028, the development is expected to create as many as 1,000 highly skilled jobs in the area, including crane operators, marine engineers, and ship workers for the vessels that tow the turbines out to sea.
FLOWMIS was launched in 2023 and has been designed to support development of the port infrastructure needed to deliver floating offshore wind at scale. Alongside the Port of Cromarty Firth, a second port – Wales’ Port Talbot – has also been shortlisted for FLOWMIS funding, and plans for this are currently under development.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “Communities in Scotland and across the country should be powered by reliable, home-grown, clean energy from British coastlines – this is how we reduce our reliance on unstable fossil fuel markets and bring down energy bills for good.
“That’s why the government is getting on with building the infrastructure needed to roll out clean energy quickly, creating skilled jobs in local communities and driving growth – the priority in our Plan for Change.
“The UK is already a world leader in floating offshore wind, but this support for Cromarty Firth will take us even further – creating hundreds of jobs in Scotland and delivering energy security for the UK.”
Scottish Secretary, Ian Murray, added: “Scotland is a key part of making the UK a global leader in clean energy and this investment is a significant vote of confidence in the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport and the surrounding area.
“Through our Plan for Change, the UK government is paving the way for cutting-edge floating offshore wind technology while also helping to create highly skilled jobs and drive economic growth.”
Floating offshore wind on the rise in the UK
Recent years have seen a significant uptick in interest in floating wind in the UK. The nation currently has a 30GW floating offshore wind pipeline, and is already home to the largest grid connected floating offshore wind farm in the world, the 50MW Kincardine project offshore Scotland.
Several future floating offshore wind projects are currently under development at present, including the 3GW MarramWind proposal which has just finished a second round of consultations, and the 100MW Salamander project, which has recently opened a call for supplier innovations.
