Major Step Forward for Planned Energy Industry Hub at Nigg (UK)

Plans to transform a North Sea fabrication yard into a key energy industry hub serving the renewables and oil and gas sectors have taken a major step forward.

The Global Energy Group was today (Tuesday 25 January, 2011) formally named preferred bidder for Nigg yard, on the Cromarty Firth in the Highlands of Scotland.

Several major international companies are already thought to be showing interest in the future use of the site as a modern, multi-user, multi-sector energy industry manufacturing and servicing centre.

Global, a leading energy industry service company, with head offices in Aberdeen and Inverness, predicts redeveloping the yard could create in excess of 1,500 skilled jobs on the 238-acre site and deliver a huge, sustainable boost for the supply chain and local businesses.

Roy MacGregor, chairman of the group, which employs over 3,500 people world-wide, described the plans as “offering the opportunity of a real step-change in the Highland and Scottish economies”.

He said: “We are committed to realising the vision of creating an international manufacturing and service hub in the Highlands, building on the region’s unrivalled expertise and experience in both oil and gas and renewable energy. This plan has the potential to put Nigg – and Scotland – firmly on the global energy map, creating jobs and prosperity for generations to come.

“There is a real window of opportunity for this development. The Cromarty Firth’s important role in the oil and gas industry is well-established and the renewable energy sector is predicted to expand hugely in the years ahead and Nigg is perfectly positioned to capitalise.

It has the ideal location, with deep-water berths, a local workforce, with the necessary range of expertise and experience and, in the Global Energy Group, a locally-based major international company with unrivalled commitment to the area.”

Nigg yard was last year named as one of the key sites in the Scottish Government’s National Renewable Infrastructure Plan (NRIP). Global’s proposals for the yard envisage it playing a key role in servicing the emerging industry through: fabrication of sub-sea equipment for offshore wind developments; on and offshore wind structure assembly; turbine manufacturing; wave and tidal device fabrication and associated research and development.

Services at the facility for the oil and gas sector would include: rig inspection, repair and maintenance; topside module fabrication; sub-sea module fabrication and rig conversion and modification.

Global has completed a range of important oil and gas and renewables fabrication and engineering projects at the Nigg yard, where it has been a tenant for a number of years.

Mr MacGregor added: “Global is already one of the UK’s largest fabricators of equipment for the offshore oil and gas industry and we have led the way in manufacturing and assembling demonstrator devices for the offshore renewables industry. Much of that work has been carried out in our facility at Nigg.

“We want build on that expertise and help create a truly world-class facility which will compete on a global basis. The opportunities for this facility are enormous.”

Global is working closely with the current owners during a period of due diligence with the aim of purchasing the parts of the site owned by US company KBR and securing a long-term lease of the section owned by the Wakelyn Trust by April. If successful in taking the site over, the group will intensify its efforts to secure partners and investors for the project.

[mappress]

Source: gegroup, January 27, 2011