Peel Ports Clydeport's ambition is quay to delivering energy targets

The Herald Scotland

30-04-2025

Last month, the UK energy regulator, Ofgem, approved a £4 billion investment to enable electricity network companies to pre-order essential cables and grid equipment ahead of power line approvals.
This involves National Grid, SSE, and Scottish Power and aims to mitigate supply chain shortages and prevent delays in achieving Britain's 2030 green energy goals and the UK's plans to build approximately 600 miles of onshore power lines by 2030.
At the hub of much of this activity is Peel Ports Clydeport's King George V Dock (KGV) at Braehead in Renfrewshire, the largest dock on the Upper Clyde and the only operational one within Glasgow's city boundary
Since 2005 Peel Ports Clydeport has handled more than 1,200 wind turbines through KGV, more than 35% of the total capacity installed in Scotland, and more than any other port across the country.
Last year the dock began processing over a thousand wind turbine components weighing more than 60,000 tonnes – and with urgent renewable energy deadlines, these developments reflect the momentum across Scotland's renewables sector.
Jim McSporran, port director of Clydeport at Peel Ports Group says: 'We started working in onshore wind at KGV 20 years ago and have handled many hundreds of components involved in turbine infrastructure, from blades and tower sections to nacelles and drive trains.
'Turbines have grown from 1.3 MW (Megawatts) in 2003 to the 5MW we can handle today. We have adapted our capabilities and facilities to grow with that increasing demand – keeping ahead of the curve in terms of what the onshore renewable energy market is doing and needs.'
As the Scottish Government has pledged to double the output of onshore renewable electricity by 2030, he points out that this means raising capacity in the next five years by as much as in the past 50 to 20 years. 'That's a very aggressive target to meet and without the capability at facilities such as KGV we wouldn't be able to do that,' he says.
(Image: Jim McSporran, port director of Clydeport at Peel Ports Group)
KGV dock was built in 1931, dating from the days of the Clyde's heritage as a global centre of big shipbuilding and cargo handling and McSporran concedes that some of its infrastructure needed an upgrade.
'Now many older quayside sheds have been replaced by state-of-the art, modern multi-user sheds and a more accessible quayside plus we've undertaken a bigger and heavier dredging campaign which we've progressed over recent years and KGV now has a 529m long riverside quay with a depth of 8.5m.'
As a working port that delivers a million and a half tons of bulk materials per year, the additional growth in the renewable energy market he says, has presented some challenges.
'We have expanded our footprint, acquiring additional land which we've remediated – indeed we've remediated the whole site – and we've grown our footprint by 20% and continue to look at further land acquisition.'
The dock has handled the infrastructure for some notable developments, such as the landmark Whitelee Wind Farm on the Eaglesham moors which with 215 turbines is the largest onshore facility in the UK, plus others including the Clyde Wind Farm, the Enoch Hill Wind Farm and the Black Law Wind Farm.
A key reason underpinning KGV's importance to the onshore renewable industry is its central location on the transport system with convenient accessibility to the motorway network, allowing easy transportation of very large pieces of equipment to remote areas.
This combination of geographical location and world-class assets means KGV is currently the busiest onshore renewables port in the UK.
'The big parts come in from overseas – China, Norway or Denmark – and we now have years of experience in handling these complex pieces of onshore equipment and storing them in space that has been improved over the last five years,' adds McSporran.
KGV has been specifically enhanced to be a renewables hub. 'That has included developing enhanced access because blades have increased in size, and it's of course become more difficult to move them round corners.
'We've invested a considerable amount of money in creating a new exit road which was opened last month [March] and which we're really excited about.
'It took a couple of years in the planning and building but has just delivered its first turbine blades and we can now transport blades of up to 90 metres in diameter which future proofs the onshore renewable capacity at KGV and will allow us to expand that still further.'
(Image: George V Dock at Braehead can now transport blades of up to 90 metres in diameter)
The majority of the first onshore licenses, he says, will be in the north-west of England, which brings that market into KGV's distribution circle, with developers looking for the kind of bespoke expertise and equipment which has been supplied to the market at KGV. 'The market is looking for up-to-date facilities combined with the expertise, knowledge and the plant that allows us all to deliver this massive growth in renewable energy that Scotland is now seeing.'
That also involves close cooperation with local politicians and the Scottish Government.
'Scottish Enterprise is involved in how we are continuing our growth in line with the ambitions of the Scottish Government,' says McSporran. And like other companies in the Clyde – in shipbuilding, maintenance and repair – he says the sector still faces a major skills shortage over the next five to 10 years.
'That's an area that has seen a shortfall in investment for too long. We're currently in catchup mode as that gap must be filled somehow so to address this Peel Ports Clydeport and Port Glasgow have initiated an apprenticeship scheme, to invest in the next generation, with opportunities for apprentices throughout our engineering team.'
The company is aiming to expand this programme to its port operatives and recruits and trains new entrants into the industry using nationally recognised standards, with a pledge to have 5% of its entire workforce in earn and learn positions in renewable technology.
To highlight recent developments at KGV, Clydeport is currently seeking to organise a showcase event for partners from across the renewables supply chain including manufacturers, developers, shipping companies and bespoke transportation companies.
'This will enable them to view the developments and future proofing at the facilities and to deliver trust into a rapidly growing market, says McSporran.
'With the exit road newly in use, now is a good time to demonstrate what goes on at KGV, seeing the land that has been acquired and remediated, and viewing improvements on the site that allow us to accommodate larger turbines.
'We'll also be able to take feedback from the market, to find out if what else we could be doing – so it will be a two-way street.'
www.peelports.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Winds of change at Hunterston site
THE transformation at Hunterston is gathering momentum, and it is widely recognised that the facility is set to become a game-changer within the UK renewables industry.
Plans for a £150 million investment in the Marine Yard at Hunterston PARC are progressing well, with the landside planning permission secured in November last year and marine consents confirmed in March, the scheme is now fully consented.
This represents a unique shovel-ready opportunity for a major UK offshore wind developer.
The work on the site will take about two years to complete, and the company believes it will create a catalyst to attract some £3.5 billion in inward investment from developers and with the potential to create more than 5,000 jobs.
Across the wider site, remediation has been in progress since 2019 after the closure of Longannet power station in Fife and the former coal port is now being completely redeveloped, with much of the site already under option, most notably for undersea cable factory XLCC.
(Image: Major investment at the Marine Yard at Hunterston aims to attract billions in inward investment)
Jim McSporran points out: 'There's currently no offshore wind manufacturing capability in Scotland which is the key message about Hunterston. We need to see this burgeoning market create well-paid, skilled jobs here in Scotland.
'This will enable increased inward investment and long-term manufacturing here. We now have huge opportunities in terms of what we're doing at Hunterston, as we seek to attract an offshore manufacturing hub with a reach that extends further than the west coast of Scotland into Morecambe Bay, the Irish Sea and Celtic Sea.
'From an offshore perspective, if we're manufacturing, we can transport goods worldwide and Hunterston is in prime position to provide this infrastructure,' he adds.
The port has already confirmed projects on its books. XLCC is embarking on a 70-acre facility to include two factories producing
state-of-the-art high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable for use in the subsea transmission of renewable energy.
Once operational, the facility will support 900 jobs in the North Ayrshire Council area, plus thousands in the supply chain.
While in October last year Highview Power launched a project to construct the world's largest Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) facility at Hunterston, the latest in a list of renewables projects either underway or in the pipeline at the site.
'North Ayrshire needs facilities like Hunterston to support the growth in the energy and other sustainable sectors and we need the long-term jobs creation and investment into infrastructure that supports Scottish and UK industry.'
This is a commercial article brought to you in partnership with Peel Ports Clydeport