The Scottish Government was told this week that it must name Dundee as its preferred site to become the renewable energy hub for Scotland. Stefan Morkis looks at what that would mean for the city and the obstacles that will need to be overcome first.
Dundee’s port occupies a huge area along the northern bank of the Tay, yet most people in the city barely give it a moment’s thought.
That could soon be about to change as the dock is seen as key to the city’s future and restoring Dundee’s beleaguered manufacturing sector to something like its former glory.
The key to this is wind specifically the electricity that can be generated from North Sea windfarms.
Between £15-18 billion is expected to be invested in offshore wind over the next 10 years, creating thousands of jobs across the country.
Dundee, like Fife and other parts of Tayside, is in an ideal geographic position to support the industry, which is expected to be vital in helping the government meet its ambitious target to get all of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
Earlier this week Steve Remp, a senior figure in the oil and renewable energy industries and executive director of SeaEnergy, delivered a stark warning to Dundee.
He said Dundee should be put forward as Scotland’s ”renewable energy” capital to attract investment. But he also warned that further delays would mean Dundee risks missing out, just as it did with the birth of the North Sea oil industry decades earlier.
He said most of the money from the National Renewables Infrastructure Fund should be allocated to Dundee to show renewable energy firms that the city, and Scotland, is in a position to support the nascent offshore wind industry.
However, proximity to sites earmarked for windfarm development in the North Sea is not enough in itself. The government has recognised that it will take more practical help to create what is, in essence, a new industry, which is why it created the NRIF last year.
This £70 million pot is intended to attract inward investment by upgrading ports and nearby manufacturing sites in readiness for offshore companies. The government’s challenge is to ensure that public funds are spent in the right areas to nurture the offshore energy industry.
Dundee’s deep-water port could be key in attracting offshore wind companies to Tayside but it is just one of 10 sites identified by the Scottish Enterprise, which administers the NRIF, for possible funding.
As well as Forth Ports’ facilities at Dundee and Leith, the Fife Energy Park at Methil, Nigg, Hunterston, Aberdeen, Arnish, Campbeltown, Ardesier, Kishorn and Peterhead are all in the running for a share of the funding. Some will be disappointed.
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There is an added complication for Dundee and all other areas hoping to cash in on the renewables boom. Although companies such as Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa have already signalled their intention to set up shop in the city, deals like this are dependent on firms acquiring leases for windfarms on the Crown Estate’s offshore territories.
The National Grid will also need to be extensively and expensively extended and upgraded to connect offshore wind turbines to the mainland.
City leaders, Scottish Enterprise, the government and Forth Ports have all been involved in negotiations to bring renewable energy firms to Dundee and turn a city that can help power the country. Forth Ports, which has also applied for NRIF funding for Leith, is hopeful Dundee will benefit from a boom in renewable energy.
A spokeswoman said: ”We are encouraged by the level and quality of inquiries for the manufacturing and assembly of components for the renewables industry that we have had at the port of Dundee. Many of these would entail inward investment and new jobs for the local area.
”We are working closely with the Scottish Government and Dundee City Council to facilitate these inquiries.”
She added: ”The port of Dundee was identified by the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan as one of the top locations for a renewables hub in Scotland.
“A fund (the NRIF) was announced following this report and Forth Ports submitted a bid to make quayside improvements at Dundee to ensure that the port is ready to allow the mass production facilities required by the renewables industry. We are currently awaiting a decision.”
Scottish Enterprise has said announcement of which sites will receive funding will happen in due course.
Dundee City Council city development convener Will Dawson said the city has the strongest claim for funding.
”Dundee is Scotland’s most suitable port location for the development of marine renewables,” he insisted. ”The city council is working with the port and Scottish Enterprise to help release this potential and this includes looking at improving infrastructure.
”We are currently in discussion with a number of companies who are looking to confirm their commercial interest.”