Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Study backs Cromarty Firth as best location to support Scotland’s major offshore wind expansion

The port at Invergordon and the Cromarty Firth.
The port at Invergordon and the Cromarty Firth.

The Cromarty Firth has been named in a new study as the best location for a marshalling and assembly hub to support large-scale expansion of Scotland’s offshore wind industry.

The area’s trust port said the move would create “major supply chain and employment opportunities locally.”

The independent Port Enhancement Study was carried out for Scottish Enterprise (SE), Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Crown Estate Scotland.

Its findings highlighted the area’s existing port and laydown facilities, capacity and potential for expansion, as well as its proximity to future development sites.

It comes after an earlier Crown Estate Scotland report, published last year, found facilities at Invergordon and Nigg would be vital in supporting a major expansion of the offshore wind sector, which will be pivotal for Scotland in meeting its net-zero targets by 2045.

Research highlights area’s long-term potential

The new study pointed to the firth’s “long-term potential” to support the construction and deployment phases of future Scottish offshore development zones, including the latest ScotWind Leasing round, the majority of which are on its doorstep.

It also emphasised the importance of port alliances and clustering activity, in order to offer the offshore wind industry “whole project solutions.”

The Invergordon-based Port of Cromarty Firth (PCF) said the area was already a “step ahead” on that front, with such partnerships already established through the work of the Opportunity Cromarty Firth (OCF) initiative.

Four key infrastructure facilities – the PCF, Port of Nigg, Port of Inverness and Highland Deephaven – are included among OCF’s membership.

Port of Cromarty Firth chief executive, Bob Buskie.

PCF chief executive, Bob Buskie described the study as “great news for the Cromarty Firth and the Highlands.”

He continued: “Scotland is on the cusp of a green energy revolution and with our leading port facilities, there is nowhere in the country better placed to take advantage of this seismic shift in energy generation.

“This has been built on a track record of success within the offshore energy industry stretching back more than 40 years. During that period, the port has worked hard to develop a world-class supply chain and a highly skilled workforce.

“Coupled with that, the Port has recently invested more than £50 million in the facilities at Invergordon, which have played an integral role in the Beatrice, Moray East and Kincardine offshore wind developments.”

Components for the Moray East wind farm in the Cromarty Firth.

Mr Buskie added: “Our facilities include significant open laydown capacity, deep-water berths and sheltered anchorages, suitable for accommodating the largest offshore wind components, such as turbine blades, tower sections and foundations, as well as the biggest offshore installation and support vessels.

“Being a trust port, where all of our profits are reinvested into the port’s development, gives us huge scope to develop our facilities further and we are investigating new plans to substantially increase our capacity further.

These fresh plans will further open up the Cromarty Firth to supporting a host of major wind farm projects earmarked in offshore areas both close to us geographically and further afield.”

The Inverness-based Global Energy Group, which owns the Port of Nigg, is planning to build a £100million fabrication facility for the offshore wind industry at the site.