The recent events at Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab) has brought the issue of jobs in renewable energy into focus. In the aftermath of the negotiations that staved off the threat of immediate closure, a question lingers: we’ve seen a spectacular growth in energy projects but where are the jobs?
BiFab builds platforms for offshore wind turbines and tidal generators, as well as large-scale equipment for the offshore oil and gas industry. It employs more than 600 people.
Alex Salmond once claimed that offshore wind was “the greatest industrial opportunity [for Scotland] since the early 1970s and the development of oil and gas”. But today the reality is that Scotland and the UK remain bit part players in the renewables sector. The Beatrice wind farm project is a case in point. The £2.6 billion development is funded by SSE, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and the Chinese-owned Red Rock Power. Fewer than 4 per cent of that value has gone back into Scottish manufacturing. BiFab produces jackets for just one third of the wind farm’s turbines.
How has this happened? A fundamental problem is investment. The prospect of manufacturing 21st-century technology in 20th-century yards is not one that appeals to energy multinationals and their backers. We need manufacturing investment so we can compete on a level playing field with international competitors.
Our planning laws are another stumbling block. It has taken seven years to sign off on the Forth and Tay estuary wind farm projects. That’s work that could and should be coming online for an employer such as BiFab, delivering a steady stream of work to sustain the yards instead of the usual “feast and famine”.
Finally, the UK government has to tell businesses and their bankers that if they want to profit here then they must guarantee that a sizeable chunk of the engineering, construction, procurement and installation work is delivered in the UK. A redistributive boost is the least we should expect for the taxpayer’s near £6 billion subsidy of the renewables sector.
Far from being “the Saudi Arabia of renewables”, the sector in Scotland and the rest of the UK has been delivered by German turbines, Dutch barges and Chinese cables — with the vast majority of the returns going into the pockets of foreign treasuries, private equity and big energy.
It’s scant return for workers in Scotland and our struggling manufacturing sector. If we want to change this then we need our politicians to be far braver and bolder in their defence of our interests.
Gary Smith is secretary of GMB Scotland
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