A £100 million vision to bring hundreds of offshore wind turbine manufacturing jobs in Fife is dead in the water.
Engineering giant Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) is set to pull out of Scotland altogether just three years after then chief executive Insik Roh joined former First Minister Alex Salmond at Methil to announce the firm’s intention to create a major new manufacturing unit and 500 jobs in the Fife town.
The South Korean firm had a plan to erect and test its 7MW next generation turbine on a test bed in the Forth before establishing a manaufacturing base on vacant land neighbouring the existing BiFab yard in the town.
The company raised the turbine – the largest of its kind in the world – in 2013 and began its test programme.
However, just months later The Courier reported a question mark was hanging over the project’s future as SHI announced a review.
The firm – which only ever created around 20 research and development jobs at the Hydrogen Office at Fife Energy park – is now on the cusp of quitting Scotland altogether after it confirmed it was in talks to hand over the turbine to the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, which will use it as a open access test bed for joint industry and academic research.
No cash is expected to change hands and The Courier understands SHI will quit Scotland altogether if the deal goes through.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the announcement is “disappointing” but remains optimistic jobs will still arrive in Levenmouth.
An Orec spokesman said: “Uponcompletion of the agreement, the Methil turbine would become the world’s most advanced, open access, offshore wind turbine dedicated to research.
“The discussions are ongoing. The Catapult will shortly be seekingquotations through the Official Journal of the European Union for operations and maintenance support for theturbine in the event of completion of the transfer of ownership.”
An SHI spokesman said: “We are in discussion with the Orec and areoptimistic the turbine will provideunrivalled opportunity to develop understanding of operations andmaintenance of offshore wind turbines in UK industry and academia.”