The future of the Highland economy took a dramatic change for the better just over a year ago.
Last January’s announcement by the Prime Minister that Inverness and the Cromarty Firth is to be the location of one of Scotland’s two Green Freeports is a game-changer for the region.
The initiative provides the catalyst for the area to realise its potential to become the UK’s renewable energy powerhouse, creating thousands of well-paid new jobs and attracting more than £3billion of fresh investment.
It is an unprecedented opportunity to reverse the alarming decline in the working-age population of the Highlands that has been so starkly highlighted in the pages of The Herald this week.
The scale of that opportunity was set out in Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport’s (ICFGF) Outline Business Case, which was submitted to the Scottish and UK governments in October.
The document identifies locations totalling around 550 hectares, which would become “tax sites”, where businesses can benefit from a range of incentives. In total, the land, which includes areas on the shores of the Cromarty Firth, in the Highland capital and at Ardersier, amount to the largest green energy development site in Europe.
Independent specialists, who interviewed landowners and potential investors forecast that, if tax site designation is granted for the minimum five years available, their development will lead to the creation of 10,250 new jobs in the Highlands over the next 25 years and a total of 16,500 across the UK.
We are confident that, with broader initiatives in the area connected with the growth of green energy, the levels of job creation will be even higher.
Following the ScotWind leasing round announcement two years ago, 20 offshore wind developments, representing a combined investment of almost £30bn, are currently being planned, with the majority of them close to our region.
Green Freeport status for the area, which has been supported from the outset by the green energy industry, presents us with the opportunity to maximise the lasting benefits to the Highlands, Scotland and the UK from these huge, long-term projects. It will accelerate economic growth and innovation, as well as growing and decarbonising the offshore energy industry.
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In our Outline Business Case, we also set out ICFGF’s proposals to address training and workforce development through The PowerHouse. The PowerHouse was established to support ICFGF in co-ordinating and raising the profile of regional training and skills providers, as well as pathways and opportunities for our future workforce.
Organisations from the public and private sectors and academia in the Highlands united to pursue the goal of Green Freeport status for our area and the consortium has continued to grow and co-operate as we work together towards its establishment. Among ICFGF’s more than 30 backers are the Port of Cromarty Firth, Port of Nigg owners Global Energy Group, Ardersier Port owners Haventus, The Highland Council and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).
While the major benefits to the region will take a number of years to build, the impact of Green Freeport status is already evident.
In recent weeks, The Highland Council approved plans by Japanese company Sumitomo to develop a cable manufacturing plant beside the Port of Nigg, on the Cromarty Firth. Jobs have already been created by ambitious Inverness-based company Aurora Energy Services and a proposal has been announced by Associated British Ports to explore additional infrastructure to support the offshore wind industry.
The fresh interest in our area from the international energy industry is also clear from the number of inquiries and fact-finding visits we and consortium members have had from companies around the world.
While the most recent Census figures again underlined the damaging decline in the working-age population of the Highlands, we now have a real and achievable means to address that issue, creating not just jobs, but sustainable careers that will benefit the area for years to come.
Previous energy booms have occurred in the Highlands, such as the oil and gas yards in the 1970s and 80s. Developing the offshore wind fields will take much longer, so the opportunity has greater potential to create employment that will span generations and establish the region as a global player.
The remarkable extent of that opportunity was summed up in the words of Highland Council leader, Raymond Bremner, who said: “This development signals a real beacon of hope and opportunity for our young people to stay, to live and work in the Highlands, with the prospect of a range of careers, never before seen to this extent in our lifetimes.”
By Calum MacPherson, Chief Executive, Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport
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