An old Vestas factory in Argyll is being upgraded to manufacture wind turbine towers for Scotland's offshore wind industry, creating 300 jobs.
Welcon Towers, an Argyll-based wind turbine manufacturer and part of the international Skykon group, makes wind energy towers and composites for the onshore
wind market. It is now on track to start
production of offshore wind turbine towers in what used to be the
Vestas factory site in Machrihanish, thanks to the signing of a lease agreement for a factory site extension with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and contract agreements with builder, Rok.
The factory will be able to produce offshore turbines on site, which Skykon says will leave the company well placed to compete for supply to the offshore market, including the three major fields off the west coast of Scotland – Argyll Array (off Tiree), Islay & Kintyre – that have recently been granted exploratory licences by the
Crown Estate. Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth John Swinney said the news marked "a great day for the Scottish renewables industry.
"The extended factory will create skilled jobs and help Scotland capture the benefits of the onshore, and now offshore, wind industry. With the Crown Estate's recent go-ahead for multi-billion pound investment in offshore wind, this facility will be a first class asset for us in the global renewables market," he said.
Skykon is investing over £14 million in the first phase of development at Machrihanish. HIE ins investing an additional £5 million ( £2 million of which comes from the European Regional Development Fund) on land remediation and site preparation work.
New staff are already being employed to supply towers for the Clyde Wind farm project, Europe's largest onshore wind farm on behalf of Siemens, and additional recruitment is expected in early 2010. Skykon expects the plant to be employing around 300 staff by 2012.
HIE area manager for Argyll and the Islands, Douglas Cowan, said: "This extension will lead to larger turbine towers being manufactured here in Argyll ready to supply markets across the UK and Europe.
"The Highlands and Islands as a whole are the key to Scotland's renewable energy potential and we are strong supporters of Skykon, their place in our community and their importance to the wider Scottish economy."
Vestas, the world's largest wind turbine manufacturer, closed its Machrihanish factory in 2008. A year later it closed its Isle of Wight manufacturing base, bringing to an end wind turbine manufacturing in the UK.