Promise of 140 permanent jobs as Scrabster harbour gears up for offshore wind farm
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A wind farm being planned off the north coast is expected to create 140 full-time, permanent jobs at Scrabster harbour later this decade.
According to the developers of the West of Orkney offshore wind farm, the £4 billion scheme would also offer significant opportunities to local contractors to service the onshore support network.
The benefits are set to flow from the tie-up between the consortium spearheading the venture and Scrabster Harbour Trust.
A memorandum of agreement between them would see the Caithness port being used as the operations and maintenance base for the 125 towering turbines, 23 kilometres off the north Caithness and Sutherland coast.
The 2.25 gigawatt scheme was the subject of drop-in consultation events in Thurso and Halkirk earlier this week held in advance of the submission of a planning application.
Development manager Jack Farnham said: "We see Scrabster playing a very big part in our project. We're talking about there being 140 full-time, well-paid jobs at Scrabster for 35 years."
Mr Farnham said posts would include operation managers, health and safety technicians, mariners to crew the supply boats and quayside logistics and storage staff.
"It would be the full range of personnel needed to run a maintenance and operations base," he said.
While the scheme is not earmarked to go live until 2029, Mr Farnham said it will boost the job prospects of the coming generation.
"Some of the people we are going to recruit will probably still be in primary school just now," he said.
Mr Farnham said the consortium has been impressed by the facilities at Scrabster.
"We're continuing to work with the harbour trust on what we would require and how the infrastructure works within that."
Thurso Highland councillor Ron Gunn yesterday welcomed the prospective jobs coming to the area.
"It's definitely good news for the county," he said. "It is showing that all the work which has been going on to develop Scrabster harbour is paying dividends."
Councillor Gunn said that while the jobs are not due to come on stream for five or six years, they are welcome in the drive to counter the rundown of the area's anchor employer at Dounreay.
As well as the direct jobs, he said the project offers opportunities for local contractors. He added: "This gives Scrabster a foot in the door and hopefully we'll see other offshore wind farm operators using the port."
Trust manager Sandy Mackie said Wick is already reaping the benefits of servicing the Beatrice offshore wind farm. Between 90 and 100 jobs have been created by SSE's operation there.
Mr Mackie said: "West of Orkney is a significantly larger project when fully developed and the number of jobs they have quoted would seem realistic."
He said discussions between the trust and the consortium have "ramped up" since January when the latter secured the seabed rights in the latest ScotWind leasing round.
"We have a good ongoing dialogue with them and we have been very impressed by the energy and determination they have," Mr Mackie said.
"We are working on how best we can serve their needs at Scrabster and how we can help secure the jobs they expect to be created here."
Mr Mackie said the phased redevelopment of the quays and infrastructure at Scrabster over the past two decades has primed it to take advantage of new ventures coming on stream.
The clusters of 370-metre high turbines would be linked via a subsea cable which would come ashore in the Forss area.
The power would then run through an underground cable to a new sub-station at Spittal.
The scheme, which would have a spur power line running to Flotta, is being geared up to meet just under half the current electricity demand in Scotland.
