Scottish port makes upgrades for renewables

   A dock located about 10 miles from downtown Glasgow, Scotland, will be transformed to support the region’s increase in wind turbine components and related renewable energy cargoes.
   About 1.3 million pounds (about $2 million) from Scotland’s National Renewable Infrastructure Fund (NRIF) will be invested in the 53-hectare Westway industrial site and adjoining dock in Renfrewshire. The NRIF aims to bring dock facilities back to operational use to support and attract companies involved in the manufacture of heavy components for the renewables sector.
   Site owner, WB Westway, has also secured 500,000 pounds from the fund to support the project that will involve dredging the dock area, work to create a navigable channel along the River Cart, and improvements to the quayside to make it capable of taking loadings from heavy components manufactured on site.
   The project will broaden the range of manufacturing locations available to the renewables energy sector in Scotland and provide a site on the upper Clyde which will allow companies to tap into the connectivity, research and development base, and workforce available in the Glasgow metro area.
   The dock improvements have potential to accelerate development plans for a further 30 acres of land with a master plan that could see up to 70 million pounds invested in the area over the next decade to create more infrastructure, including a bridge over the River Cart.
   “We have been working intensively with port owners across Scotland to look at existing infrastructure and investment required to support Scotland’s growing renewables sector,” said Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, in a statement.
   “Glasgow and the West have much to offer the sector and have already claimed a place on the renewables map attracting energy heavyweights and pioneers in the offshore wind sector such as Scottish and Southern Energy, Iberdrola and Gamesa,” she said. “This initial investment will help inject fresh industrial life to the upper Clyde and ensure that is capable of meeting the needs of the manufacturing companies operating in the renewable energy sector.”
   Investment in the dock facility is expected to attract a number of new companies and investors in the renewables sector as well as support continued growth of existing tenants at the Westway site, such as Steel Engineering Ltd. which is focused on increasing steel fabrication for the renewables sector, and James Fisher Defence which is currently exploring the potential of entering the renewable supply chain with new cabling technology.