Investors are closing in on a final decision over development of what would be the UKs largest offshore wind fabrication facility, a giant 35,000m3 steel-rolling hall in the Port of Nigg in the Scottish Highlands, Recharge can reveal.

The 100m ($129m) plant would be a major boost to Britains offshore wind supply chain in a region transitioning from oil & gas operations. But the investment still hangs in the balance, and it is unclear what if any assistance the facility could expect from the UK or Scottish devolved governments, while unions have flagged fears over how much business it could win without help (see panel below).

A spokesman for Global Energy Group (GEG), which is bidding to build the factory, said the 450-metre-long facility is being designed to manufacture 90-100 towers a year, as well as jacket and floating turbine foundations, for Round 3, Round 4 and ScotWind projects. A training academy for ex-oil & gas workers is also planned.

The factory design will integrate cutting edge technology to maximise operational efficiency, and regional staff historically employed in the oil & gas industry will have the opportunity to be re-trained and upskilled at the Nigg Skills Academy to allow them to operate the machinery required to roll these giant tubular structures, he said, adding GEG foresaw employing 150 direct skilled workers and creating over 300 indirect jobs in the region through development of the local supply chain.

The Port of Nigg could become the UK hub for offshore wind activity if [we are] successful in funding this ambitious plan to build [this] tower-rolling facility to service these [upcoming projects].

The factory would feature rolling machinery robotics and a blast and paint shop, he noted, opening up the possibility for the Nigg yard which was once a manufacturing hive for the North Sea oil & gas industry to consolidate the ports existing marshalling and staging work for turbine components and foundations as one of the UKs strategic offshore wind hubs.

GEG is already active in the Scottish oil & gas sector, and an offshore wind plant at Nigg would be give a positive charge to the devolved nations renewables industrial base, subject of intense controversy over leakage of contracts overseas that critics say has already left languishing Scotlands BiFab fabrication yard and a Highlands wind tower facility opened by South Koreas CS Wind.

Scotlands ability to provide backing to its renewables base has also been a source of tension between the Edinburgh government and the UK administration in London.

We continue to work closely with the UK government, which retains many of the key levers needed to support the sector, to ensure both governments are doing all they can to protect jobs and retain vital skills, Scotlands energy minister, Paul Wheelhouse, said in a written statement to Recharge.

Wheelhouse said a drive toward a just transition for the countrys energy workers would be underpinned by private sector projects such as a factory at Nigg along with the appropriate level of government support.

Any proposal from the private sector to put in place fabrication facilities for offshore wind is to be welcomed.

Now, more than ever, we need a just transition that supports sustainable economic growth and jobs, and any proposal from the private sector to put in place fabrication facilities for the offshore wind and wider renewables sector is to be welcomed, he said.

We would encourage companies to continue dialogue and engagement with our enterprise agencies to determine the appropriate offer of public sector support to bring these projects to fruition in Scotland.

Wheelhouse pointed to the countrys 62m Energy Transition Fund along with engagement work by the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) to identify gaps in our supply chain capabilities where inward investment would be most beneficial as key initiatives for the transfer of oil & gas personnel and supply chain companies into renewables.

He added that the SOWEC was currently undertaking a suite of works that will broaden our understanding of the challenges here in Scotland and ensure that support and investment is targeted to maximise impact for the supply chain.

Scotland is a world leader in offshore wind and quite a bit of the work so far hasnt been done in Scotland, union GMB Scotland organiser Hazel Nolan said to Recharge.

Its great to hear such a factory could be set up in Nigg but I am not sure what guarantees there can be that we will get work into this facility why not invest the money in the existing [former oil & gas] construction infrastructure you already have?

News of the potential Nigg investment comes in the wake of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnsons restated ambitions to quadruple the countrys offshore wind capacity to 40GW by 2030, earmarking 160m to renovate and repurpose ports and habours around Britain to service the sector.

The UK hopes to bring more supply chain deals of the kind recently announced by a large South Korean steel group, which wants to build a giant offshore wind foundation plant in northeast England.

Unions in Scotland broadly welcomed the prospect of construction of the Nigg offshore wind facility but raised red flags on the Scottish governments poor track-record of securing major industrial fabrication orders for existing yards, with recent jacket orders on the giant Seagreen and Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind developments among those adding to the trend of out-of-country contract wins.

Scotland is a world leader in offshore wind and quite a bit of the work so far hasnt been done in Scotland, union GMB Scotland organiser Hazel Nolan told Recharge.

This is not a case of labour cost [being too high in Scotland compared to Middle East and Eastern European yards], it about ancillary cost, renting in cranes and so on. There has been chronic underinvestment in construction infrastructure [in Scotland] and this is why we are missing out [on major offshore wind fabrication orders] .

Its great to hear such a factory could be set up in Nigg but I am not sure what guarantees there can be that we will get work into this facility why not invest the money in the existing [former oil & gas] construction infrastructure you already have?

Unite Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty in a written statement told Recharge: Any manufacturing bases being set up in Scotland are welcomed given what we are witnessing elsewhere with major contracts within the renewables sector being awarded everywhere but here.

Only a few weeks ago SSE announced that Scottish based firm BiFab had not secured any contract work from the Seagreen project with all of the platforms for its 114 turbines to be manufactured in China and the United Arab Emirates."

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UK's largest offshore wind fabrication plant planned in Scotland - Recharge