Colin Donald
Business Editor
A landmark Scottish Government fund intended to boost Scotland’s readiness
for offshore energy between 2010 and 2015 remains 80 per cent unspent, in
its final year the Sunday Herald has learned.
The £70m National Renewables Infrastructure Fund (NRIF) was launched in
November 2010 to secure Scotland’s position as a pioneer of offshore
renewable energy, by helping develop port and near-port manufacturing
locations for marine wind turbines and related industrial development.
However apparent lack of industry demand has meant that so far only £14.4m,
just over a fifth of the sum earmarked to help attract private sector
investment, has been allocated to date.
Lindsay Leask, senior policy manager at industry body Scottish Renewables
said: “For a variety of different reasons progress of offshore renewables
projects in Scottish waters – which this fund was designed to support – has
been slower than originally envisaged.
“More than 1GW of Scottish offshore wind has so far secured funding support
from the UK Government, leaving a further 3GW still looking for that
financial certainty. The development of the wave and tidal sectors also
presents exciting opportunities, and delivering the right onshore
infrastructure is absolutely crucial to maximising the economic benefit to
Scotland.”
Industry insiders ascribe the lack of progress to the length of time taken
by consenting body Marine Scotland to license offshore developments and the
uncertain UK-wide electricity market reform process which discourages
investment in marine wind farms.
The low take-up puts a question mark over earlier visions of a
jobs-boosting North Sea-centred supply chain of offshore renewable
infrastructure manufacturing and installation.
NRIF, which accompanied a National Renewables Infrastructure Plan, was
intended for investment in the port infrastructure required “to create
suitable manufacturing, testing, operations and maintenance sites for
offshore wind turbines, and for fitting-out port facilities, to establish a
manufacturing supply chain and service the emerging offshore wind industry”.
Overseen by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the
cash was intended to fund proposals to develop the ports on the basis of
need and the likely impact of the investment on the development of a
Scottish based manufacturing supply chain for the offshore wind sector.
Projects that have benefitted from the funding since its launch include
feasibility work by SE and Forth Ports at Leith on an offshore wind
manufacturing hub, feasibility work and physical improvement works by Forth
Ports at Dundee to create land and infrastructure for offshore wind and
other energy sector activity and works at Hunterston by SSE to establish a
national offshore wind test centre.
Also ongoing is SE’s feasibility work at Rosyth to confirm the potential of
the port as a location for offshore wind supply chain activity and respond
to inward investment interest in this regard, and works at Energy Park Fife
(Methill and Buckhaven) to support energy sector fabrication.
Completed projects that were assisted by NRIF include Westway in
Renfrewshire, where the Westway Dock on the River Cart was recently opened,
and Inchgreen in Inverclyde, looking at the site’s potential for a role in
offshore renewable.
The final completed project supported by NRIF was locally controversial
feasibility work at Cockenzie into the potential of the former coal fired
power station to operate as a marine energy park in support of the offshore
wind sector.
A spokeswoman for SE said: “Since the publication of the Scottish National
Renewable Infrastructure Plan we – along with partners and port operators
across Scotland – have identified and progressed various options for
infrastructure development at key sites to ensure they can take advantage
of upcoming offshore wind opportunities.”
“Consolidation in the industry and also market conditions have led to the
timescales for investment to be increased however we and our partners
continue to progress infrastructure development in line with market
requirements, ensuring we’re in the best position possible to take
advantage of opportunities as they do arise both within offshore wind and
across the energy sector.”
The kinds of infrastructure developments NRIF was intended to promote
include water deepening at the quayside, land remediation and reclamation,
demolition and site clearance, utilities improvement and improved access.
The manufacturing facilities include the production of the major components
of wind turbines, including “jackets” (bases), nascelles (motors), blades
and towers. Production of these would also require Infrastructure such as
craneage and lifting equipment and bespoke manufacturing plant and
equipment, such as casting or gear box testing plant.
In total SE received 25 expressions of interest for NRIF, mainly from
individual ports looking to attract offshore wind related business through
enhanced port facilities. Around eight of these submissions were deemed to
be “out of scope” and others were not taken forward as applicants were
looking for grant support, which NRIF was not intended to provide.
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