A deal for BiFab fabrication yards to build structures for a £2 billion offshore wind farm has collapsed, according to union leaders.

BiFab was to manufacture eight turbine jackets at its yards in Methil, Fife, as part of the Neart Na Gaoithe (NnG) project developed by EDF Renewables.

Gary Smith, GMB Scotland secretary, and Pat Rafferty, the Unite Scotland secretary, used a joint statement to criticise the outcome which they labelled a “political failure”.

They said: “It looks like the Scottish government ministers have walked away from our best chance of building a meaningful offshore wind manufacturing sector, and in doing so has extinguished the hopes of communities in Fife and Lewis who were banking their future prosperity on it.

“It’s a scandalous end to a decade which started with promises of a ‘Saudi Arabia of Renewables’ supporting 28,000 full-time jobs in offshore wind and now finishes in mothballed fabrication yards and no prospect of any contracts or jobs on the horizon.” […]

Richard Leonard, the Scottish Labour leader, was also critical of the deal’s collapse which comes after BiFab missed out on other vital contracts. “Following hard on the heels of SSE awarding the £3 billion Seagreen fabrication work to China and the UAE this represents nothing less than an abject failure of government,” he said.

“There ought to be a plan for a green jobs dividend here when renewable energy projects are licensed. Instead of the Scottish government leading a plan for jobs and investment we have seen market forces triumph at the expense of working people. With yards in Scotland lying idle and a skilled workforce able to do this work there is real anger that these workers and communities have been let down.”

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October 22, 2020 at 02:36AM