Scottish Highland port receives £24 million in funding
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has announced it will invest £24.2m at Kishorn Port, west Highlands, with plans to expand its dry dock and develop land so that floating offshore wind foundations can be manufactured at the site.
The expanded facilities could attract projects with the potential to create up to 1500 jobs once the port is fully developed, HES has said.
READ MORE: Battery storage site on greenfield land given go-ahead
Kishorn was used in the 1970s for the construction of the Ninian Central oil production platform, which at the time was the world's largest floating concrete structure and has one of the largest openings of any dry dock facility in Europe.
The investment forms part of the Scottish Government's commitment of up to £500m over five years to develop ports and offshore wind energy supply chain.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes (below) said the investment is a 'clear signal' from the Scottish Government which will help boost confidence in potential investors.
(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
She said: 'This is one of the most significant public investments in our port infrastructure in decades. It is crucial to ensuring Kishorn Port and the communities it supports can reap the benefits of the global renewables market.
'It is a clear signal from the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise that will give investors the confidence to invest millions more in the area's wider infrastructure, economy and people.'
HEI said Kishorn Port will play a crucial role in supporting current offshore wind developments and is 'well positioned' to capitalise on future opportunities extending beyond Scotland.
READ MORE: Scotch whisky festival and retailer announces shock closure with 'heavy heart'
Stuart Black, HIE chief executive, said the proposed dry dock expansion and land reclamation will greatly enhance the port's ability to support offshore wind projects.
He said: 'Offshore wind presents a massive opportunity for the Highlands and Islands and Kishorn is one of several ports that are at the heart of this. The facility has provided skilled jobs in a rural area for many decades and this is likely to grow significantly, which is vital to community resilience in a priority west coast location.
'The proposed dry dock expansion and land reclamation will greatly enhance the port's capacity to support offshore wind and the contribution it makes to Scotland's economy. I'm delighted that we've been able to secure this significant additional funding for the region and look forward to continuing to work with Kishorn Port Ltd as the project develops.'
Kishorn Port Limited director, Alasdair Ferguson, said with a quarry on site at the port it is well situated to make floating offshore wind sub-structures.
He said: 'This is a significant milestone in the continuing development of Kishorn Port. The port expansion will provide the catalyst for the support and creation of jobs within Wester Ross and the wider Highlands, benefiting communities across the area. We're grateful to Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Government for their support.
'With the quarry on site, Kishorn Port is ideally suited to concrete manufacturing of floating offshore wind sub-structures, with local content, laydown, marshalling, and long-term integration and assembly possible at the port as part of the wider project in the long-term.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Major update as Scottish university gets set to axe 300 full-time jobs
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A TOP university has revealed a major update in its plan to axe 300 full-time jobs. Dundee University has now opened a voluntary redundancy scheme after coming up with an "alternative pathway" to solving the financial crisis at the institution. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Around 300 roles will now be cut at the uni through a voluntary programme Credit: Alamy 3 Students and staff taking part in a rally and march in Dundee after the job cuts announcement Credit: PA In March, we told how the uni estimated that 700 staff would be affected by a devastating job cull required to balance its books. But under new proposals last month, around 300 roles will now be cut through a voluntary programme. The scheme was put together after talks with campus trade unions and approved by the university court. Voluntary redundancy was opened today and will run until July 25, The Courier reports. Staff who accept the deal will leave their jobs by September 30. A spokesperson added: "This is an important step in the recovery plan for the university, as we look to reduce staffing by 300 fulltime-equivalent through the voluntary scheme." The cuts were first revealed by interim principal Professor Shane O'Neill during a meeting, where he cited "the current financial crisis" as the reason behind the decision. Professor O'Neill had previously warned MSPs that the university could run out of cash by June without lifeline support. The Scottish Funding Council has since approved a £22 million emergency support package, and an investigation into the crisis has been launched. The uni has also lodged a full funding request for £100million bail-out. University Challenge contestant admits 'I don't understand the question' as they struggle to answer in quarter-final - but could you get it right? Labour MSP Michael Marra previously described the job losses as "devastating" for university staff and the Dundee economy. The job losses come amid an ongoing debate over university funding in Scotland. Critics argue that the Scottish Government's "free" tuition model is putting severe pressure on university finances, leading to limits on the number of Scottish students accepted onto courses since international students pay higher fees. Dundee is not the only university in Scotland to plan to cut jobs this year. Around 350 employees of the University of Edinburgh have accepted voluntary severance as part of ongoing efforts to reduce costs. And the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) plans to axe 75 jobs.
The National
5 hours ago
- The National
50,000 letters sent to minister over controversial Flamingo Land plans
More than 50,000 people have written to the Public Finance Minister, Ivan McKee, in just two weeks, demanding that the Scottish Government withdraw its approval for Flamingo Land's Loch Lomond mega-resort planning application. In September 2024, the Yorkshire-based theme park operator, Flamingo Land Ltd, had their planning permission in principle rejected after all 14 board members of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs Planning Authority. However, the decision to reject the £40 million resort plans was overturned by a Scottish Government official last month, when the developers appealed the decision. READ MORE: More than £1m in funding announced for restoration projects for Scottish coastline The proposal for the resort includes plans for more than 100 holiday lodges, two hotels, a waterpark, a monorail, 372 car parking spaces, shops, and more on the site called Lomond Banks. According to the Scottish Greens, more than 50,000 people have used a portal on their website to call on the Scottish Government to overturn the decision and scrap the development. Greens MSP Ross Greer (below) said the public's opinion on the proposal, which is the most opposed in Scottish planning history with more than 155,000 individuals lodging objections, 'couldn't be clearer'. (Image: PA) He said: 'The Scottish Government has got this badly wrong. They are about to allow a greedy developer to trash the gateway to our National Park. It is not too late for a u-turn though. They can still save Loch Lomond. 'In just two weeks the Planning Minister has heard directly from over 50,000 people calling on him to block these proposals. Public opinion couldn't be clearer and it is backed up by experts including the Government's own environment watchdog. 'I have campaigned side by side with local residents in Balloch for nearly ten years now to stop Flamingo Land. At every stage we have won on the basis of the overwhelming evidence against their plans, but that has all now been overturned by the Scottish Government.' Organisations such as the National Trust for Scotland, the Woodland Trust, the Ramblers, and the Scottish Government environment watchdog, SEPA, also raised objections against the plans. Greer added: 'I do not understand why the Scottish Government are determined to cosy up to greedy theme park operators rather than protect Scotland's world famous natural heritage. 'It's time for Government Ministers to actually listen to the people of Scotland and save Loch Lomond.' The news comes after Scottish ministers refused planning permission for a trotting track for harness racing on the historic Bannockburn battlefield site. The Scottish Government ruled that the proposals would 'introduce new development and urbanisation in one of the few remaining undeveloped parts of the battlefield'. As such, it ruled the development 'would have a significant adverse effect on the character of the battlefield, its setting and sense of place'. The site is where in June 1314 Robert the Bruce and his Scottish army famously defeated English troops led by King Edward II. The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Building cladding: Up to £3bn could be spent in Scotland
Up to £3bn of public money may have to be spent assessing and removing potentially flammable cladding from buildings in estimates from the Scottish government suggest up to 1,450 residential buildings may need remediation work, including about 250 high-rises. It was previously estimated about 900 buildings were full surveys will be needed to establish what needs to be done on a case-by-case basis, with 107 buildings being examined as part of a pilot phase. It is now estimated that the Cladding Remediation Programme could cost £1.7bn to £3.1bn over a 15-year new legislation is passed by the Scottish Parliament, additional funding could be unlocked to fix building safety issues. The Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill will see a tax charged on the construction of certain new residential properties, in line with equivalent legislation in bill seeks to raise about £30m a year to help fund work to fix residential buildings with unsafe cladding which have no linked Finance Minister Ivan McKee said: "The Scottish government is committed to doing what is right and necessary to address the challenge of fixing buildings affected by unsafe cladding."That includes putting the appropriate funding arrangements in place to ensure that the associated costs of cladding remediation do not fall directly onto affected homeowners."I know that developers share our determination to keep people safe and this levy will ensure they make a fair contribution to these costs, just as they will be doing in England."He added: "I also welcome the continued co-operation of developers who have accepted responsibility for the assessments and any required mitigation and remediation of their buildings." Grenfell Tower fire The UK government agreed in principle to devolve the powers needed for a Scottish Building Safety Levy last month ministers announced plans to speed up efforts to inspect and repair buildings in response to the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London that killed 72 23-storey tower's cladding is believed to have contributed to the rapid spread of the broke out in the kitchen of a fourth-floor flat at the tower block in North Kensington, just before 01:00 on 14 June minutes, the fire had rapidly spread up the exterior of the building and moved across all four sides. By 03:00, most of the upper floors were well well as those killed, more than 70 people were Cladding Remediation Programme was set up in the aftermath of the disaster but Scottish ministers have been criticised for its slow progress.
