Scottish Highlands freeport secures £25m investment to become global clean energy hub

A GREEN freeport in the Scottish Highlands has reached a “historic milestone” – positioning itself as a global hub for renewable energy with £25m (US$33m) in government-backed investment and a long-term vision to create over 11,000 clean energy jobs.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed by the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport (ICFGF) and the UK and Scottish governments following a five-year planning process. The agreement commits both governments to supporting the delivery of “significant” infrastructure projects at the freeport.

The ICFGF says the freeport has been designed to attract major investment by offering neighbouring businesses tax benefits and incentives – and expects to attract more than £6.5bn of investment over the next 25 years.

The site has already attracted partners from a range of industries, including carbon capture firm Storegga, Scottish Power and Sumitomo Electric Industries.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, the minister for devolution, faith and communities, said: “This green freeport is demonstrating the pivotal role Scottish communities are playing in building Britain’s clean energy future.”

Training clean energy workers

The MoU was signed at the newly opened £1.2m training facility in Inverness, run by Aurora Energy Services. The centre is expected to train more than 2,000 clean energy workers annually, establishing itself as a valuable part of the ICFGF supply chain.

Scotland’s Energy Transition Skills Hub in Aberdeen also opened its doors recently, and is providing full and part-time courses for training, upskilling and reskilling for engineering and welding skills needed in the transition.

Scottish energy

The ICFGF is one of two green freeport projects in Scotland, the other being the Firth of Forth. Together, the projects span eight port locations: Inverness, Cromarty Firth, Ardersier and Nigg for ICFGF; and Rosyth, Burntisland (Fife), Grangemouth and Leith for Firth of Forth.

Firth of Forth Green Freeport is expected to create 34,500 jobs across the UK and attract up to £7.9bn in investment. Its core focus will be offshore wind, alternative fuels and modular manufacturing.

The ICFGF is also expected to focus on offshore wind, advanced manufacturing and the development of maritime technologies. It has already began delivering one of its flagship projects with Sumitomo Electric at Port of Nigg. The £350m subsea cable manufacturing facility will be a 50,000 m2 factory for the development of high-voltage cables. The site is set to support Sumitomo’s 205-mile Shetland 2 High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) link, which will connect three ScotWind offshore wind farms near Shetland to the National Grid.