Offshore wind farm base proposed for Cromarty Firth - BBC
Offshore wind farm base proposed for Cromarty Firth - BBC News
Offshore wind farm base proposed for Cromarty Firth
- Published
A new offshore wind farm manufacturing and assembly base has been proposed for the shores of the Cromarty Firth in the Highlands.
Associated British Ports plans to build the site at Pitcalzean Farm just to the north of Nigg Energy Park.
The company has signed an agreement with the landowner and is to consult locally on the proposals.
The base would be within the boundaries of the planned Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport.
Calum MacPherson, chief executive of the freeport project, described the move as "massive news" for the area.
Other developments have already been proposed for a freeport.
They include plans for a large sub-sea power cable factory next to industrial docks at Nigg.
In January it was announced Cromarty Firth and the Forth had been selected to host Scotland's first green freeports.
Also called free trade zones, freeports are designated areas where the normal tax and tariff rules of the country in which they are based do not apply.
They allow goods to be imported, manufactured and re-exported without being subject to checks, paperwork, or import taxes, known as tariffs.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: wind
Decades of government support for the development of wind energy has resulted in lower costs and a rapidly growing share of electricity generated by wind turbines. Wind in 2019 accounted for 7.3 percent of electrical generation, surpassing for the first time hydropower at 7.0 percent.