Macduff Port Eyes Offshore Wind Opportunities (UK)

The town of Macduff in Aberdeenshire, which overlooks the Moray Firth, is set to use the advantages of the energy industry by marketing the Macduff harbour as an operational base and service port for the oil and gas industry and the offshore renewables sector.

“We believe that Macduff is an ideal place as a shore base for the wind farms that are going to be constructed in the Moray Firth. Macduff can offer virtually all the facilities and resources that such operations need,” Ian Williams, who has been appointed as the project leader to drive the marketing forward, is quoted by the Scotsman news site as saying.

This plan is being developed by the Banff and Macduff Community Council, in association with Banff, Macduff and District Business Association, with the support of Aberdeenshire Council, which owns the harbour.

In November last year, Aberdeenshire councillors have unanimously backed plans for Moray Firth wind farm construction, which is proposed by Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and Repsol Nuevas Energias.

The company estimated that the construction will create 400 permanent jobs and 2,500 jobs during the peak construction of the 1.5GW wind farm. The wind farm, worth GBP 4.5 billion, is expected to start with construction in 2015 and will comprise 339 turbines.

Mr. Williams said that he had already carried out a survey with some people involved with both oil and gas and the wind industry, which shown that most of them had never heard of Macduff. Therefore, the most important aim of this project is to promote the harbour so it can be considered as a solution for the energy projects’ developers.

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Offshore WIND Staff, January 8, 2013; Image: ScotlandsPlaces