Korean engineering giant Samsung Heavy Industries will decide within two years whether to go ahead with the establishment of a major turbine manufacturing plant in Fife.
The company this week received consents from the Scottish Government to erect a single demonstrator turbine just metres offshore at the Fife Energy Park at Methil.
At 196 metres tall from base to the tip of the blade, the turbine one of the most powerful of its kind in the world is set to become a new local landmark.
SHI now has five years in which to test and prove the generation capability of its new turbine, and the success of the programme will determine the long-term path of the project.
But should the new turbine prove reliable, SHI have said they are willing to invest up to £100 million in the venture and create around 500 jobs at a new manufacturing base at Methil.
Councillor Tom Adams, chairman of Fife Council’s Levenmouth area committee, said he hoped SHI would be in position to make a final investment decision on the manufacturing base in two years’ time.
“This is the most powerful turbine in the world and it is going to be erected in Fife it is immensely important,” he said.
“Samsung will decide within a two-year period whether to move to manufacture and, if they do manufacture, they will manufacture at Methil; 500 jobs will be created directly but it is also immensely important in terms of the supply chain across the whole of Scotland.”
SHI currently have a team of around 20 designers, engineers and project managers based at Fife Renewables Innovation Centre at the Energy Park. The addition of a manufacturing hub would see that figure soar, and also open up huge opportunities for the supply chain.
SHI is already working with Huddersfield-based David Brown Gear Systems a company owned by Scottish billionaire Jim McColl’s Clyde Blowers Capital investment vehicle and the firm is to establish a base in Fife in order to provide gearbox support.
Mr McColl, who has travelled to South Korea to inspect progress on the turbine at Samsung’s Geoje shipyard, said there was a twin purpose to the Fife demonstrator project for SHI.
He said it would allow the company to get the necessary offshore certification whilst also showcasing the technology to developers in the wider green energy marketplace.
There are currently plans for three separate major wind arrays in the firths of Tay and Forth alone, collectively worth a potential £15 billion in capital investment.
Lindsay Leask, senior policy manager with industry body Scottish Renewables, said the SHI consent cemented Scotland’s leading position in the development of next generation offshore wind technologies.
She said: “The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre at Aberdeen Bay, and the progress of Mitsubishi’s 7MW demonstrator project at Hunterston, put Scotland truly at the cutting edge of offshore wind development.
“This year will see the deployment of Europe’s first 7MW turbines on the east and west coasts of Scotland.
“This is of course also a further step forward towards offshore turbine manufacturing.”