I couldn’t help but get a sinking feeling as I read through Fife heavy engineering company BiFab’s company report last week.
The Burntisland firm is one of the jewels in the crown of the Fife economy, employing hundreds of workers and contractors on major projects, predominantly in support of the North Sea oil and gas industry.
Its ability to pick up major contracts it is involved in Premier Oil’s Solan project and GDF Suez’s giant Cygnus gas scheme among others even led the Prime Minister to break off from the congratulation-fest that was the London Olympics in 2012 to fly north to hail the company’s success.
Given BiFab’s track record and front-foot stance, it was with more than a little concern that I read that plans to double the size of one of its engineering yards at Methil had slipped by two years.
The reason given? Uncertainty over the subsidy regime for offshore windfarms.
For months the signs have not been overly encouraging for the renewables sector in the UK.
There has been precious little tangible progress, and major shockwaves the recent drawback on green energy investment by Perth-based SSE being just one of them.
There has been some movement we have had consents for the Moray and Beatrice windfarms off the Caithness coast, for example and new cash for development of the quayside at Nigg but it feels like an industry right now where no one wants to be the first to take the plunge and commit the serious cash required to bring about the jobs and economic revolution so craved.
Both the industry and governments in Holyrood and Westminster need to get on top of this now before a game-changing opportunity slips through the fingers.