It is described as the largest brownfield port in the UK. Now, after laying derelict for two decades, Ardersier looks set for major redevelopment.

It will help put the Moray Firth at the forefront of future renewable energy production in Scotland as an onshore service and construction base for the offshore wind industry, and the breaking up of defunct North Sea oil and gas assets in this country.

The site is 14 miles east of Inverness and was once a busy industrial hub that housed the McDermott yard, which employed 4,500 at its peak, building structures for the offshore oil industry in the 1970s. The yard closed in 2001 as the industry fell into decline.


🔔 This article also appears in our Business Insight newsletter

📝Sign up in seconds here 👈


If the new incarnation comes to fruition as planned, the port then will dismantle what was once built there.

Clearing the North Sea of redundant oil and gas platforms will involve over 1.3 million tonnes of infrastructure being brought onshore over the next decade, according to Offshore Energies UK’s Decommissioning Insight report.

The Herald: Top, the existing site, and, below, how it might lookTop, the existing site, and, below, how it might look (Image: Ardersier Port Authority)

“Building on Ardersier’s proud history,” Haventus said. “The redevelopment of the port will revive its position as a major local employer.

“It is anticipated that thousands of construction jobs could be created in addition to the ongoing employment opportunities for deployment, and subsequent maintenance, of the offshore wind fleet and decommissioning of redundant North Sea assets.”


READ MORE: Major US energy backer invests £300m in Scottish port


Taking the reins at Haventus, Ardersier Port’s parent company of the port, is industry veteran Lewis Gillies, who has spent more than 35 years working in energy, including 20 years at BP, for part of the time as head of the hydrogen power business unit of BP Alternative Energy.

He also headed the former BP and Rio Tinto joint venture Hydrogen Energy International.

Mr Gillies said: “Ardersier will provide a vital facility for the deployment of the offshore wind industry and enable the domestic decommissioning of redundant oil and gas assets.”

The work in progress’ backer, Houston-based Quantum, was founded in 1998 and provides private equity, credit, structured, and venture capital to the responsibly sourced energy and energy transition and decarbonisation sectors, having “managed together with its affiliates more than $21 billion in capital commitments since inception”.