The chief executive of Forth Ports has denied favouring Edinburgh over Dundee as its major offshore renewables manufacturing hub in the east of Scotland.
Charles Hammond was speaking on Thursday in the wake of an announcement by Forth Energy that it is scrapping plans for a multi-million-pound biomass plant at Leith to make more land available for renewables manufacture.
Forth Energy which is a joint venture between Forth Ports and Perth-based energy provider SSE said its £1.1bn plans for three other biomass plants at Rosyth and Grangemouth and at the docks in Dundee are unaffected by the Leith decision.
The firm will now move to reconfigure the layout of the docks to give the best chance of securing major inward investment potentially hundreds of millions of pounds over the next decade from the green energy sector.
A number of parties are exploring the possibility of locating at Leith including Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa, a one-time suitor of Dundee which decided to end its interest in the city primarily because of a lack of available development land.
Mr Hammond denied the plan to free up more space at Leith is an indication that Forth Ports is concentrating its efforts on making the central belt port its main Scottish renewables hub.
He said Dundee remains in the picture for both offshore and biomass developments.
”We have good inquiries at both Dundee and Leith but they are distinct inquiries,” Mr Hammond said. ”Dundee is at least as much a priority for us as Leith but a lot depends on the nature of the inquiries we receive.
“Different companies are interested in different ports and have different needs. We are working really hard to bring people to Dundee and I am personally involved in that process.
”I want to see Dundee being successful as an offshore renewables hub. We won’t try to develop Leith at the expense of Dundee. I value what we have created up at Dundee and I am committed to making Dundee a success.”
The Dundee biomass plant which has caused major controversy over its location, design and eco-credentials alone would create up to 70 permanent jobs and hundreds of construction trade posts during the building of the £325m facility.
Managing director Calum Wilson said the firm is committed to the three remaining projects, which would collectively produce 300MW of electricity and 260MW of heat if built.
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He said: ”Much has changed since we first applied for permission to build a CHP plant at Leith, not least the port’s emerging status as a hub to support the Scottish offshore renewable energy industry. We remain fully committed to bringing reliable, responsible, renewable heat and electricity to Scotland through our proposed developments at the ports of Grangemouth, Rosyth and Dundee and, in the process, assisting the Scottish Government in achieving its ambitious 2020 renewable energy targets.
”Once the configuration of the Port of Leith has been established, we will reassess the opportunity and industrial demand for renewable energy and heat at the port.”
In December, SSE signed a memorandum of understanding with Dundee City Council, Forth Ports and Scottish Enterprise to explore options for a new manufacturing plant to be established at Dundee Port to service the offshore wind sector.
City council administration leader and Dundee Renewables chairman Ken Guild said he is convinced that Dundee remains at the forefront of Forth Ports’ plans.
He said: ”I am confident that the facilities located in Dundee have the potential to deliver a major role in the offshore renewable energy industry for the economy of the city and of Scotland as a whole.
”We have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with our partners in SSE and Forth Ports and work is going on to cement Dundee’s role in the future of the industry.
”The Scottish Government will make the final decision over the proposed biomass plan (for Dundee), the site for which is not adjacent to the site at the east of Dundee Port for renewables development.
”Dundee remains a key location in SSE’s and Forth Ports’ plans for renewables hubs and supply chain activity.”
Alan Mitchell, chief executive of Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce, said he remains confident Dundee’s drive to become a renewables hub will not be derailed by developments elsewhere.
He said: ”We won’t speculate on the rationale for this commercial decision by Forth Ports. Whatever decision they have made based on their assessment of the relative value of the land at Leith for renewables and biomass doesn’t change the fact that Dundee has all of the attributes needed to be a key Scottish renewables hub: manufacturing land, a deep water port, engineering skills, a supply chain and, through the Port of Dundee, enterprise zone status.”