Scottish cities are rapidly repositioning themselves for the post-North Sea oil future. Port operator Forth Ports has announced a plan to invest £10m into the Port of Dundee as it looks to develop offshore wind and North Sea decommissioning business at the Scottish city. The news follows on from a similar announcement from Aberdeen earlier this year.
Forth Ports will add heavylift capability at the port, in order to handle larger project cargoes.
The quayside will be equipped to handle offshore wind turbine assembly and deployment activities, along with operations and maintenance.
“This is an important, privately funded investment for the Port of Dundee which is ideally placed to service the needs of North Sea oil and gas, decommissioning and Scotland’s offshore wind sector over the coming years,” said Charles Hammond, ceo of Forth Ports.
“Our investment also puts Dundee in a position to benefit from offshore renewable projects such as Neart na Gaoithe, which has the potential to deliver cost-efficient renewable energy and economic benefits for Dundee,” he added.
The construction work is expected to be completed within 18 months.
A report just out by Douglas-Westwood suggests that in the UK over the 2019-2026 period, there will be 144 platforms removed and decommissioning through to 2040 should fetch some $51bn in revenues.
Aberdeen has set out plans to snare some of this business too, although its harbor development is expected to take three years’ longer than Dundee’s to complete.
