A multi-million pound masterplan has been put together to regenerate a ‘sleeping giant’ fabrication yard and potentially create hundreds of skilled jobs in Scotland’s west highlands

The massive Kishorn yard and dry dock has been earmarked for a key potential role in the imminent offshore wind turbine construction boom and the emerging wave and tidal generation industry.

The two-phase, £11.75 million Kishorn Port Masterplan has been drawn up by a joint venture of national and local businesses.

Meanwhile, a Scottish Government report has confirmed the yard as a national priority for commercial redevelopment to supply manufacturing, assembly, fabrication and other logistics for offshore renewables.

And the report (National Renewables Infrastructure Plan, or NRIP) has confirmed that Kishorn can be brought to readiness for less investment than the other ten prime sites it identifies.

The two businesses behind the redevelopment plan are the national quarry products and construction materials company Leiths, and west highland-based transport and logistics business Ferguson Transport.

The companies, who have existing quarrying and freight shipping business operations at Kishorn, have created Kishorn Port Limited and acquired a mix of ownership and rights to its range of facilities, including its dry dock, 26 hectares of hardstanding, slipway and four deepwater quays.

The largely dormant Wester Ross facility, created more than 30 years ago to build super-sized oil and gas platforms, once saw the construction of the world’s largest man-made moveable object – the 600,000 tonne Ninian oil platform – and later the huge concrete caissons to form the base for the Skye Bridge.

The NRIP report, produced by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, stresses the need for renewables candidate ports to ensure good resources, including quaysides, hardstanding and utilities like power and water, are in place for strong industry demand within three years or sooner. It cites Kishorn as a priority, in its own right and as a core part of a wider Scottish ‘West Coast Cluster’ of ports carrying out manufacturing and other operations.

Kishorn Port director Alasdair Ferguson said:”Kishorn is a sleeping giant of a manufacturing and service hub for renewables, with the potential to create hundreds of skilled jobs for the west highlands in sectors like engineering, fabrication and transport. And it’s a light sleeper too – because of huge investment in the past, the initial estimated cost to restore the infrastructure – in phase one of our masterplan – is just £2.75 million, compared to between £5million and £65 million for the other nominated sites around Scotland.”

Fellow director Simon Russell, who is chief executive of Leiths, said:”We are delighted that our own expert report has shown that Kishorn Port’s redevelopment is not only feasible but is highly cost-effective compared to other sites, despite the greater area of accessible industrial land, dry dock and deepwater access. We can now confidently take the project to market in the knowledge that we could beat the NRIP report’s three-year infrastructure readiness target by more than half.”

The company’s first steps are likely to include bringing in a third, energy-related business partner to work with them on the infrastructure-related phase – including restoring the dry dock gates, providing for heavy craneage, quayside load-out and other services – before looking to phase two’s estimated £9 million investment in buildings, equipment, power and other resources.

Meantime, planning procedures for the site, which has local authority structure plan support for industrial development, and environmental impact research, are already in hand.

Note to Newsdesks
News, including this story, case studies and data on the fast-growing energy sector in Scotland’s Highlands and Islands are available at HI-energy, http://www.hi-energy.org.uk/explore, an on-line resource dedicated to the region’s natural assets, development activities, research programmes and supply chain of nearly 600 businesses.

The HI-energy programme is delivered by Lucid and run jointly by the North Scotland Industry Group, http://www.nsig.co.uk, and development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise, http://www.hie.co.uk.

A £5million expansion of the world’s flagship test centre for full-scale wave and tidal energy machines has increased its capacity by a third – enabling new prototype devices to go into the water this year.

Based in Scotland’s Orkney Islands, the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), has taken its set of test sites from nine to twelve. Two tidal berths have been added to make seven and a fifth wave power test berth has also been created.

International tidal developers, Atlantis Resources Corporation and Voith Hydro Ocean Current Technologies, have contracted to begin installing huge turbine prototypes on the new tidal berths this year, and Finnish company Wello Oy is preparing to trial a wave energy device next year.

The expansion, involving laying more than two miles of subsea cabling, comes just three months after the centre also announced its identification of some wave and tidal “nursery sites”. These will be developed to meet international demand from businesses with smaller prototypes, plugging the gap between test tanks and full ocean conditions.

EMEC managing director Neil Kermode said: “These moves ensure that Scotland’s Highlands and Islands stay right in the global forefront of marine energy as it accelerates. Our full-scale sites were almost full to capacity but, having created new space for other devices, we now still have room for new wave and tidal developers.”

Since its inception in 2004 as the first full scale, grid-connected test facility in the world, EMEC has attracted 11 device developers, including Pelamis Wave Power, Aquamarine Power, OpenHydro and Tidal Generation Limited.

The centre’s tidal test area, off the island of Eday, was chosen for its high-speed currents which can reach almost 8 knots. The wave test facility, on the western edge of Orkney’s mainland, has some of the highest wave energy in Europe.

Elaine Hanton, joint head of energy at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, said: “This successful expansion of EMEC's facilities highlights the fact that the Highlands and Islands continues to be the most important offshore renewable energy hub for the UK and beyond. In addition to EMEC, the region has an experienced and rapidly growing supply chain of 600 companies, delivering real results through innovation, new contracts and international links.

“Companies from the USA, Brazil, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark, for example, have already identified the potential for business in this region through trade visits and contracts. Working with our public sector and industry partners, including the energy industry’s trade body North Scotland Industries Group, we have established our ambition to realise the full potential of our region's energy expertise. Indeed, the news this week that Hammerfest Strom UK (HSUK) is to build, test and deploy one of the world's most advanced tidal turbines in the Highlands and Islands is further testament to the energy supply chain and extensive natural resources we have to offer this global market."

Funding of EMEC’s development, co-ordinated by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, has involved partners including the Scottish and UK Governments, Scottish Enterprise, Orkney Islands Council, the Carbon Trust and European Commission. Funding from the UK Government's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), allowed creation of the new test berths.

Note to Newsdesks
News, including this story, case studies and data on the fast-growing energy sector in Scotland’s Highlands and Islands are available at HI-energy, http://www.hi-energy.org.uk/explore, an on-line resource dedicated to the region’s natural assets, development activities, research programmes and supply chain of nearly 600 businesses.

The HI-energy programme is delivered by Lucid and run jointly by the North Scotland Industry Group, http://www.nsig.co.uk, and development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise, http://www.hie.co.uk.

Full-scale fabrication and testing to create a giant wave energy device – the width of a jumbo jet’s wingspan – is to take off this year in the Scottish Highlands.

The technology leap, scheduled by Inverness-based AWS Ocean Energy for the autumn, will also mean the Cromarty Firth will see its first marine energy test project.

Announcement of the project comes less than a month after AWS was awarded nearly £1.4 million of public funding, to accompany about £7.5 million of commercial development investment to date.

And the move marks the vital transition from eight years of smaller model development, including the current Loch Ness trials of a wave energy convertor, to the full-scale version that will be nine times its size.

The new generation device will measure 60 metres in width and will house 12 massive air-pumping cells, or diaphragms, each powered by wave movement and driving an electric turbine.

AWS will first have a single full scale pumping cell built and then test it in the Cromarty Firth, initially at the shoreside and then in full sea conditions.

In the final development stage, they aim to launch a complete demonstrator device rated at 2.5 Megawatts (MW) – similar to a large wind turbine’s capacity – by 2012 and then hope to have a 10MW pre-commercial wave farm of four generators operating in 2014.

“This announcement marks a significant boost for our business and a milestone for the marine renewables industry in the Scottish Highlands,” said Simon Grey, chief executive of AWS which employs 14 people in a high-tech facility close to Inverness’s harbour.

“The key to commercial investment in worldwide deployment of these devices is to take the risk out of the technology. Our big advantage, as we speak to potential industrial and utility partners, is the elimination of moving mechanical parts in contact with seawater, by using flexible diaphragms instead.

“The operation of the cells is very simple but the full-scale development task will be complex and challenging. Fortunately, we are already working with other experienced and skilled businesses nearby, holding out the promise of major new high-tech activity for the region.”

AWS won the £1.39 million of funding from the WATERS fund (Wave and Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Support), which is a collaboration between the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) with European support.

Audrey MacIver, joint head of energy at HIE, said: “This is a very exciting stage in AWS’ development. It is a great example of an innovative company, based in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland where we have some of the world’s best natural resources for marine energy development, attracting strong private and public sector investment.

“The Highlands and Islands is currently at the forefront of the world’s marine renewables sector, both in terms of its resource and early-stage deployment of devices. The sector is certain to be transformational to the economy of Scotland and the UK and presents an opportunity on a ‘once-in-a-generation’ scale.”

Note to Newsdesks
News, including this story, case studies and data on the fast-growing energy sector in Scotland’s Highlands and Islands are available at HI-energy, http://www.hi-energy.org.uk/explore, an on-line resource dedicated to the region’s natural assets, development activities, research programmes and supply chain of nearly 600 businesses.

The HI-energy programme is delivered by Lucid and run jointly by the North Scotland Industry Group, http://www.nsig.co.uk, and development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise, http://www.hie.co.u .

Thousands of Britain’s biggest businesses, and many landmark buildings, are about to play a leading role in cutting greenhouse gases – with the potential help of a high-tech business in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.

As new UK legislation this year squeezes large private and public sector organisations to reveal and reduce their power use, Stornoway-based Greenspace Live has developed a unique smart tool for major property owners to pinpoint their carbon footprints, cut their energy costs and help the environment.

Under carbon reduction commitment regulations launched in April this year, about 5,000 of the country’s biggest energy-using organisations will have to record CO2 performance and buy emissions ‘allowances’ each year. Thousands more will need to monitor and disclose emissions data for public ‘league tables’.

Greenspace Live’s breakthrough means businesses can manage the overall carbon footprint of one building, or a portfolio of several hundred, through an online portal using 3-D modelling, energy performance analysis and certification, ongoing reviews and secure sharing of the information.

“Building owners, developers and designers are looking for fast, simple solutions, to address new government energy efficiency measures, fuel costs and environmental responsibility,” said Donald Macritchie, managing director of Greenspace Live on the island of Lewis.

“We have developed this product which is government certified, to meet that need. Industry trialling of it, and take-up of our consultancy and training in its use for pilot projects, has been very positive. We have also had strong interest from venture capital investors in helping to grow the service and our business faster”

He added: ”Apart from new building design and development, there are nearly two million existing non-domestic properties in the UK alone. Our product is uniquely based on a web portal, which supersedes existing desktop-based systems by allowing easy teamwork use, nationally or globally, by property management businesses, professional energy assessors and consultants, and large owner-occupiers.”

“Being on line, customers can not only access Greenspace Live at anytime, anywhere, but will have instant access to up-to-date software.”

Greenspace Live was spun-out from Greenspace Research, an arm of Stornoway’s Lews Castle College, which is a partner in the UHI Millenium Institute.

The research arm is working in aspects of energy including buildings technologies, power infrastructure, dynamics and economics and Greenspace Live is developing other commercial spin-off products to follow the buildings energy system.

Note to Newsdesks
News, including this story, case studies and data on the fast-growing energy sector in Scotland’s Highlands and Islands are available at HI-energy, http://www.hi-energy.org.uk/explore, an on-line resource dedicated to the region’s natural assets, development activities, research programmes and supply chain of nearly 600 businesses.

The HI-energy programme is delivered by Lucid and run jointly by the North Scotland Industries Group, http://www.nsig.co.uk, and development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise, http://www.hie.co.uk.