Ardersier port to get new life as new owners of the former McDermotts oil platform yard plan to transform it into Europe's first fully circular energy transition site
A redundant part of the local industrial landscape is about to be brought back to life.
Ardersier Port, the former McDermotts oil platform yard, which employed more than 4,500 workers in its heyday is to undergo a multi-million pound rejuvenation.
The yard, which has lain empty for 20 years, is the largest brownfield port in the UK.
The new owners plan to transform it into Europe's first fully circular energy transition site.
Plans include decommissioning retired oil rigs and making foundations for future fleets of floating offshore wind farms.
To start the revolution at the yard £20 million is to be spent on a capital dredge programme in order to bring the port's half-mile long quayside.
As part of the operation 2.5million cubic metres of sand will be removed from the channel at the Ardersier yard.
Once the dredging is complete, expected next summer, Ardersier will build a slipway, allowing floating oil and gas structures to be hauled onshore prior to removing all contaminants and decommissioning them.
It has also proposed building a £300m steel plant, partly powered by offshore wind.
Over five years, it then plans to build the oil rig decommissioning facility and steel plant, along with a waste from energy recovery facility.
A concrete wind turbine foundation "hub" which would use dredged sand and recycled steel in its manufacturing processes would also be constructed.
Fraserburgh registered Ardersier Port, which bought the site earlier this year, already has an agreement with French renewable energy developer BW Ideol guaranteeing them exclusive access to the port for the manufacture of their turbine foundations.
Steve Regan, an owner of Ardersier Port, said: "This is a once in a generation opportunity to create a world-leading industrial and offshore wind manufacturing facility here in the UK.
"It is a simple plan where each element makes commercial sense as a stand-alone project - but when combined, the benefits to the economy, and the environment, are multiplied.
“The UK has set a world leading net zero target to build back better, support green jobs and accelerate our path to net zero. At Ardersier we can lead the UK’s Green Industrial Revolution by using circular economy practices to deliver new low carbon infrastructure built on the by-products of our oil and gas past. This is a once in a generation opportunity to create a world-leading industrial and offshore wind manufacturing facility here in the UK."
Ardersier Port is in discussions with Marine Scotland regarding the licence to dredge, and will consult formally with all statutory consultees regarding any future proposals.
Situated at Whiteness between Ardersier and Nairn, the brownfield site sprawls across 400 acres (162ha) and has a quay more than a mile long.
The surrounding area and sea provides habitat for seals, dolphins and birds.
At its height the yard employed about 4,500 people but it closed in 2001 as demand dropped.
In the 20 years since, various plans have been announced to put the site back into use including a planning consent for 2,000 homes, hotel, retail and restaurant developments, community facilities and play areas on some of the land.
It is expected that thousands of jobs will be created at the site as a result off the revamp.
NatureScot said conditions had been placed on previous plans for the site to safeguard as far as possible the important natural habitats and species.
A spokeswoman said: "The latest proposals from Ardersier Port differ from earlier versions in that they include dredging during the winter months which is the most sensitive period for protected birds.
"We are currently advising Marine Scotland and working with Ardersier Port to help mitigate disturbance issues."
She added: "The most recent proposals also include a new steel mill, concrete production plant and waste to energy plant. We have not yet been formally consulted on these new elements of the plans."
In the 1970s the McDermott Yard opened at the location for the fabrication and construction of offshore platforms for the then newly-established North Sea gas and oil industry.
