Port of Ardersier Welcomes Consent for Moray and Beatrice OWFs

Port of Ardersier has welcomed the announcement today of formal consent for the Moray Offshore Renewables Limited (MORL) and the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL) projects.

Port’s CEO Capt. Steve Gobbi said:

“Offshore wind could generate thousands of new jobs in the Highlands, with ports as the key.

“The build out of projects such as Moray and Beatrice will require bespoke facilities where developers can manufacture, assemble and ship major deep water offshore sub-structures – at a scale we have not seen in decades.

“Places like the Port of Ardersier, which were purpose-built in the 1970’s for the first oil-boom, are now ideally placed to offer the acres of space and deep water quays these offshore wind farms will require,” Gobbi says.

In February this year, the Port of Ardersier received full planning consent from Highland Council for plans to turn the former oil yard into an offshore wind manufacturing ‘super-hub’. They are now expecting final consents from the Scottish Government in the coming weeks, paving the way for remediation and dredging to make the 400-acre vacant site market ready later this year.

This would be a second lease of life for the specialist port. The yard, formerly known as the McDermott Fabrication Yard, was built on land reclaimed from the foreshore in the 1970s for the fabrication and construction of North Sea oil and gas platforms. At its height, the yard employed 4500 people.

“The Moray and Beatrice offshore wind projects are a major opportunity and we are working closely with Highlands and Islands Enterprise to secure as much local impact from this project as we can,” Gobbi concludes.

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Press release, March 19, 2014; Image: Port of Ardersier