New £99 million port project for Arnish

The creation of a “second deep water port” at Arnish, devoted to work on renewable energy projects, has emerged as a possibility.
By Brian Wilson
Published 18th Apr 2024, 09:48 BST
The new port facility will support the further expansion of operations at the fabrication yard. (Pic: John Maher/www.johnmaher.co.uk)The new port facility will support the further expansion of operations at the fabrication yard. (Pic: John Maher/www.johnmaher.co.uk)
The new port facility will support the further expansion of operations at the fabrication yard. (Pic: John Maher/www.johnmaher.co.uk)

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

It covers the area between the new cruise ship terminal and the existing fabrication yard which is marking its 50th anniversary and has been successfully revived under the Harland & Wolff banner.

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The company say that the scheme would require a £99 million investment package which would allow for the creation of a new quay and floating dry dock, “increasing the site’s construction capacity to 255MW of installed capacity per installation season”.

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They add: “The upgraded port at Stornoway would boast a laydown area of over ten hectares, providing ample space for the assembly and storage of renewable energy components”.

The application has been made under the SOWEC-SIM programme (or 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 keenly-contested fund carries a budget of up to £500 million over five years and prioritisation of projects will depend on responses from the developers about their requirements for supply chain and infrastructure.

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Almost 40 proposals have been put forward with a combined capital value of £6.5 billion.

The Arnish proposal has progressed to the second stage of the process and the yard’s general manager, Albert Allan, told the Gazette this week: “We’re in the mix but there is a long way to go”.

Harland & Wolff have also put forward a proposal in respect of their Methil yard.

The group’s chief executive, John Wood, said: “The plans we have submitted to SOWEC for Arnish and Methil are indicative of our desire to make Harland & Wolff a leading player in the renewables industry”.

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