Latest news with #HighlandsandIslandsEnterprise
Scotsman
3 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Sustainable future for the Highlands
Yvonne Crook, Chair of Highland CIC | Trevor Martin COMMENT: Yvonne Crook, Chair of Highland CIC Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... At The Scotsman's Green Energy Conference, I had the privilege of sharing a message that has been four years in the making. Backed by extensive community consultation and comprehensive mapping work, a vision was presented that not only captures the challenges facing our region, but also the extraordinary opportunities ahead. Our work to date – a collaboration with over 200 ambassadors from across the Highlands and 11 green energy developers – has involved deep analysis of green energy developments as well as third sector activity, cultural heritage, the natural environment, and the tourism landscape. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad We've also looked at areas facing significant deprivation, where the gap between potential and opportunity is far too wide. The message was clear – if we are to harness the full benefits of the energy transition, we must rethink how we allocate resources. Community benefit funds, often too narrowly distributed or short-term in scope, must be used more strategically. Our communities deserve a long-term legacy, not just a temporary boost. This principle lies at the heart of Highland CIC's mission – to position the Highlands as a global exemplar in sustainable development. The conference was a key moment to talk about what our partnership has accomplished over the past four years, bringing together voices from across the Highlands and across sectors. We are immensely grateful to our partners and sponsors for their investment, expertise and commitment to our shared vision. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The scale of what lies ahead cannot be overstated. According to Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the region is poised to see around £100 billion in economic investment. This is a 'once in many lifetimes' opportunity to shape the future of The Highlands, but it must be done right, it must be a just transition. We are calling on all stakeholders – developers, public agencies, community organisations, and policymakers – to come together in a strategic collaboration that works together to prioritise sustainable development goals for the Highlands and an aligned investment strategy. The Highlands have always been a place of resilience, innovation and pride. Now we have the opportunity to lead by example, demonstrating how rural and remote communities can thrive in a net-zero future while preserving the natural and cultural assets that make our region so unique.
The National
4 days ago
- Business
- The National
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.'
The National
4 days ago
- Business
- The National
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. 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. READ MORE: Battery storage site on greenfield land given go-ahead 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. 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.'
The National
27-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Highlands and Islands residents split over £100bn investment plan
Not all see it that way, as I report below. The scale is described as 'unprecedented' for the Highlands and Islands, possibly even the whole of Scotland and much of the UK by the report's joint commissioner, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), with much investment coming by 2027. It encompasses onshore and offshore wind energy projects with resulting pylons, transmission cables and substations; green hydrogen facilities; marine biotech such as tidal capture; space technology; life sciences studies; and infrastructure including road transport upgrades, mainly set to be driven by private sector investment. Citing 251 planned development projects in the pipeline, 36,000 new housing units and 34,000 construction and operational jobs, this is said to far exceed other 'transformational' periods such as the post-war Highlands hydro development and oil and gas. Projects are dispersed across the region, including initiatives in Orkney and Shetland, Caithness and Sutherland, Lewis, Argyll and Kintyre, the Inner Moray Firth and down the Great Glen. Forbes chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government's Convention of the Highlands and Islands in Strathpeffer, Ross-shire, this month to view a presentation of the report alongside HIE chief executive Stuart Black, Highland Council leader Raymond Bremner and members of the regional economic partnership he heads. Forbes said: 'The challenge is now to capitalise on this promise. I look forward to working alongside our public and private-sector partners to deliver on this enormous potential, creating thousands of top-quality jobs for future generations.' Bremner also welcomed the report, highlighting the crucial role of local authorities and public-sector bodies in fostering sustainability. 'We stand on the brink of a once-in-a-generation opportunity for economic transformation,' he said. The meeting was sparsely attended by the public but caught the attention of Conservative and Unionist Party Highland Councillor Helen Crawford (Aird and Loch Ness Ward). She later said: 'Decision-makers around the table were asked to identify to what extent they could become enablers, identify what the blockages are and how to overcome them.' Specifically on renewable energy proposals which largely drove the report, Crawford added: 'Two parts of Highland life are absent when decision-makers talk about energy infrastructure in the Highlands. Firstly, tourism, which is the backbone of the Highland economy, and secondly the communities expected to host the major energy infrastructure, in particular the upgraded transmission lines, substations, battery storage and major wind turbines. That needs to change with both tourism and our impacted communities given a place at the table when we make decisions about this.' Local activist groups were quick to condemn the report carried out by research specialist Ekosgen, a Glasgow-based consultancy related to a Manchester firm with several English council board members. Dan Bailey of campaign group Better Cable Route (Strathpeffer & Contin) described the convention meeting as 'a talking shop between unaccountable quangos, politicians who parrot industry publicity, and multinational energy companies with their eyes on vast profits'. He said it smacks of deals being made at the expense of residents. He went on: 'You cannot have a fair and green economy without involving the people at the sharp end of the energy transition – the people who have to live with all this development. We will bear the negative impact of a seemingly endless wave of new power lines, substations, storage facilities and wind farms, yet see precious little benefit. Local communities are consistently sidelined by the industry and our elected representatives alike.' After presenting the report at the Strathpeffer convention, Martin Johnson, HIE director of strategy and regional economy, said that while its concept of a collaborative, holistic and place-based approach was critical in realising the benefits of investment opportunities, 'engaging with communities was not what this [report] was.' He said: 'In the real world this happens through engagement between local authorities and key businesses where the development is taking place and through the planning process.' While conceding that sectors such as tourism and food and drink offered good opportunities in the Highlands, Johnson said the current report was more concerned with transformation of scale rather than what he termed localised and incremental businesses. 'We announced this report to raise awareness across the region on what does 'big' look like and opportunities for the future, including housing and jobs,' he said. Johnson said about a year of research went into the report, partly in the context of the UK Government's clean energy and decarbonisation 'net-zero' policy. READ MORE: Scottish Borders town takes local hotel into community ownership On the 251 projects, 'researchers talked to project owners about what they were planning, the timescales, where the projects were placed from ideas to final investment decisions'. According to HIE analyses, the UK energy grid upgrade currently under consideration is a critical factor for its investment projects. In the Highlands, electricity infrastructure is controlled by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSE), whose expected investment of more than £22bn in Highland grid upgrades is included in the report's £100bn projection. Meanwhile, grid pricing of wholesale electricity sits with the UK Government, with reform expected this summer. At the same time, SSE is expected to miss 2030 net-zero targets while cutting £3bn in renewable investment, according to several media reports. The UK's high energy pricing and uncertain growth are major variables for HIE's Highland prospects. However, Johnson asserted that HIE's report findings give private-sector investors the confidence they need on house building, such as in the Moray Firth area and with prospects of Highland re-population with property development and job potential. He expected investment in supply chains as well as capital projects that include the UK's Great British Energy and overseas firms such as Japan's Sumitomo Electric Ltd which has established a subsea cable manufacturing plant at the Port of Nigg on the Cromarty Firth. HIE would not be drawn, however, on Highland business prospects of trade with the European electricity market as discussions continue between the UK and EU under their 'reset' engagement on energy. READ MORE: Revealed: The Scottish councils now using Elon Musk's Starlink internet technology Observers noted that the UK would have to follow EU rules to seal the deal, with the prospect of re-energising carbon trading under the EU emissions trading system. Highland residents I spoke to are critical of the HIE report. Shaun Ince, a Strathpeffer resident, biologist and retired academic, said: 'It looks a bit like pie in the sky investment. The environmental aspect worries me. If it's going to be 'big development' that should be well controlled with the right planning. There's a lot of beautiful land and communities that could be destroyed if you're not careful.' John Heathcote, from the village Contin, is an environmental advocate and geologist and was a former principal specialist at Dounreay nuclear site in Caithness. He said: 'My immediate reaction is not positive – no-one has asked us if we want growth to this extent. At the moment the Highlands is a very different place to live compared to an English city. Do we want this difference to disappear? 'We do, however, need to think about how we can manage modern services with a scattered population, where schools are too small to be viable and medical services are limited. But it is not clear that the proposed growth will fix this. Personally, I think that we have to move on from the growth agenda'. For her part, Crawford called for a 'Highland Convention in the Glens' next month in response to the HIE report, claiming there are seven community councils in support. She said: 'The likely speed of transformational change, as outlined in that paper, is enormous. It is more important now, than ever before, that our impacted communities come together and speak with a combined voice on behalf of those who are living in the areas that are being adversely impacted.' It seems a 192-page report is going to have political, societal and business implications – and generate very different views – well into the future in the Highlands and Islands.
The National
12-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Highlands can secure '£100bn and over 18,000 jobs via renewables'
The research found it could even outstrip the peak of the North Sea oil and gas era. The report only looked at 251 large-scale projects and does not include analysis of the economic impacts on the wider supply chain – including industries such as tourism and food and drink, as well as public-sector spending. Stuart Black, the chief executive of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), said the region could become the 'engine room' for growing the Scottish economy. READ MORE: Labour MP slapped down over claim UK-US trade deal 'great for Scotland' 'We know there's a lot to get right. Bringing these projects to fruition means addressing some serious challenges facing the region and a strong commitment to partnership,' he said. 'But the sheer scale of the potential prize from these efforts makes all that very worthwhile, and that's where our focus should be. 'The report will be crucial in informing decisions around things like planning and investment in order to realise as much of the potential benefits as possible.' Councillor Raymond Bremner, chairman of the Highlands and Islands Regional Economic Partnership (HIREP), added: 'We stand on the brink of a once-in-a-generation opportunity for economic transformation. 'This scale of opportunity is unprecedented for the Highlands and islands, and possibly for Scotland and the UK.' The document will be discussed on Monday at the Convention of the Highlands and Islands in Strathpeffer. The meeting will be attended by Deputy First Minister Katw Forbes. The research was carried out by Ekosgen and was commissioned by HIE and HIREP.
