New multi-million-pound port project focused on renewable energy announced for island

Lucy Jackson
·1-min read
If the application is successful, the port will be devoted to facilitating renewable energy projects such as offshore wind
If the application is successful, the port will be devoted to facilitating renewable energy projects such as offshore wind

A MULTI-MILLION-POUND project to develop a port on a Scottish island has come one step closer after developers have submitted a funding application.

If successful, the creation of a “second deep water port” at Arnish, in the Isle of Lewis, will be devoted to facilitating renewable energy projects such as offshore wind.

The shipyard’s operators, Harland & Wolff, have submitted an application for public-private funding alongside Stornoway Port Authority “to enable the development of the Stornoway Offshore Wind Hub”.

READ MORE: SNP minister 'disappointed' as Scotland 'to ditch key climate pledge'

First reported in the Stornoway Gazette, the application covers the area between the new cruise ship terminal in Arnish and the existing fabrication yard.

The application was made under the SOWEC-SIM programme (Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council Strategic Investment Model) which involves all the ScotWind offshore developers, the Scottish Government, enterprise agencies and Crown Estate Scotland.

The proposal has progressed to the second stage of the application process.

The fund carries a budget of up to £500 million over five years, with almost 40 proposals being put forward with a combined capital value of £6.5 billion.

It comes as a new report highlighted that the Scottish Government needs an extra £2bn to deliver on its plans for a just transition.

Those working at Harland & Wolff – the company which owns the yard – say that the scheme would require a £99m investment package which would allow for the creation of a new quay and floating dry dock, which they say would increase the site's construction capacity to “255MW of installed capacity per installation season”.

A spokesperson for the company added: “The upgraded port at Stornaway would boast a laydown area of over ten hectares, providing ample space for the assembly and storage of renewable energy components.”

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