Nigg ready to capitalise on offshore developments

The oil facility at Nigg, East Ross, is ideally placed to provide the base for construction of the turbines needed to service the two major offshore wind energy developments proposed off the north Highland coastline.

This is the view of Councillor Ian Ross, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Planning Environment and Development Committee, who is delighted that the Crown Estate has announced plans to produce around 2GW of energy from offshore wind in this area.  

Councillor Ross said: “Nigg is ideally suited for the renewables industry around the UK and Northern Europe.  I would estimate that there is almost two years work being generated by the production of 2 GW of energy from these proposed developments. This could be as many as 400 turbines – and hundreds of of jobs for this area.   

“In 2010 there will be investment of c£1.6bn in three UK offshore wind projects alone. The European Wind Energy Association points to a potential market for 37GW of offshore wind by 2015. This is a growing market and we want to ensure Nigg, which is one of the UK’s best sites for renewables’ fabrication, takes full advantage of the opportunities presented.”