EnBW and BP Select Port of Leith for Morven Offshore Wind Farm

Forth Ports has signed a reservation and collaboration agreement with BP and EnBW under which the Port of Leith will serve as the marshalling port for the Morven wind project offshore Scotland.

Located some 60 kilometres off the coast of Aberdeen, the Morven offshore wind farm is being developed by EnBW and BP for which the two companies secured a seabed lease in the ScotWind auction at the beginning of this year.

Once completed, the offshore wind farm is expected to have a generating capacity of 2.9 GW, sufficient to power more than three million homes.

Forth Ports, the owner and operator of the Port of Leith, said its GBP 50 million investment into a new offshore wind hub, announced last year, would see the facility in operation by the end of next year. The new facility will provide a bespoke offshore wind berth and a land bank for laydown and marshalling of offshore wind farm components, Forth Ports said.

With the capacity for local content manufacturing as well as a base for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the offshore wind supply chain, the offshore wind hub will create up to 1,000 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs, according to Forth Ports.

“This is significant news for our business and for Scotland, as we welcome bp and EnBW’s Morven project to Leith, the first of many for our new facility. We will be the largest offshore renewables hub in Scotland, bringing manufacturing opportunities and highly skilled, local, green jobs”, said Carole Cran, Chief Financial Officer at Forth Ports.

“This facility, and the Port of Dundee, will provide an integrated service offering to the offshore wind market, which will be instrumental in achieving the nation’s net zero targets over the next two decades”.

Forth Ports said that the Port of Leith is a key part of the Forth Green Freeport bid that was submitted to the UK and Scottish governments for assessment in June 2022 with the aim to re-industrialise Scotland, create large-scale economic development, boost local supply chain growth, skills development and create a world-class manufacturing cluster.

The bid is expected to create 50,000 new green jobs and could act as a catalyst for new green technologies and renewable energy manufacturing, unlocking GBP 6 billion of private and public investment for Scotland, Forth Ports said.

In relation to the offshore wind project, BP and EnBW said earlier they would establish their operational centre in Scotland, and, according to BP, it would make Aberdeen its global operations and maintenance centre of excellence for offshore wind, creating up to 120 new direct jobs and expected to contribute up to GBP 40 million per year to the economy.

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