We have seize this opportunity 'that exists right now on these shores' from the green freeport
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THE race is now on to make the most of the opportunities afforded by green freeport status.
That is the view of one of the region’s biggest industrial presences, Global energy boss Roy MacGregor .
Speaking shortly after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to make the announcement at Invergordon, he underlined that in 45 years in the manufacturing industry the opportunity for the wider Highlands is almost beyond comparison.
With the Global Energy Park at Nigg playing a pivotal part in the Opportunity Cromarty Firth bid the site is set to become an advanced manufacturing centre where locals should see activity very soon he said.
And with estimates of up to £4.8 billion in new investment predicted for the area Mr MacGregor was in no doubt about the importance of what lies ahead, and the difference that stands to be made for ordinary people.
“I think the area was on the verge of steep decline, I think we were going to see depopulation again – really it is a major announcement,” he said.
“This is not an announcement just for this bid, this is an announcement for the Highlands. So whether you are in Lerwick or whether you are in Stornoway or whether you are in Forres the significance of what happened is going to reverberate around the whole area.
“I was here at the start of the oil and gas, I was involved with Brown and Root when they selected Nigg and then Ardersier.
“I have been on that journey for 45 years, I have seen revolution in the highs and lows and how people adapted to it
“I am even more excited today that we are starting a new journey.
“The transition for Global has been over 10 years and over 50 per cent of our business is in renewables today. This is a culmination of it.”
Steve Chisholm, the company’s operations and innovation director, said it was time to start work.
“The first thing local people will see is action,” he said. “Planning applications for factories that will be built in the area, that will create lots of employment.
“And industry needs them quick, so we are in a race to get them built.
“All the opportunity that is there – ScotWind, hydrogen, even the space for small modular reactor manufacturing. Factories need to be built so we can get industry here in the Highlands.
“The idea is to move that at pace.”
He sad some of the new facilities planned could be up and running come 2026.
Iain Sinclair, executive director of renewables and energy transition, agreed that pace was essential in the wake of the freeport status being granted.
“We have to make sure that this window of opportunity that exists right now on these shores – we sit in the global heartland of offshore wind – if we don’t seize that opportunity in the next 12 to 18 months then it will bypass us.
“Global competition is already upscaling, there are established players in the market, but there is still quite a fractured supply chain so the race to establish that now as a clear value proposition to the developers and government is essential.
“That is a big part of the race.”
He added: “The process of building the teams starts almost immediately.
“We have two portfolio projects right now, one of which will create 450 jobs and 1000 in the wider surroundings.”
