Scotland's Economy

Double celebration at Nigg

December 21, 2012 by Calum Davidson No Comments | Category Exports, Investment

Bought by Global Energy Group in October 2011, the yard now employs 800 people, is home to the award winning Nigg Skills Academy, which has trained over a hundred new welders and fabricators since being opened by the FM in April. It has been brought back to life by an investment of £11m, supported by £1.8m from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and £600k by Highland Council. The site is busy re-building oil rigs, fabricating hi-tech equipment for the Oil and Gas and Renewables markets, as well as building highly specialist equipment for the nuclear decommissioning of Sellafield in Cumbria.

You see when it comes to Nigg, I have to declare an interest, as I’ve lived in the small town of Cromarty, just across the water from the fabrication yard, or Energy Park as it now is, for nearly 30 years. I remember the boom days of the 80s and 90s, when the yard employed four or five thousand people, but I also remember the fallow years when the yard was effectively mothballed from 2001-2011. A skilled local workforce drifted to Oil and Gas jobs across the world, with friends and neighbours working in Libya, Brazil and Kazakhstan.

That’s why the announcement of 400 new jobs at Nigg, squarely aimed at attracting home to the Highlands skilled people working outwith the region, or in other industries is so important. Oil and Gas is booming, and new off-shore wind and Marine renewables contracts will be appearing in the next two or three years. Making sure that Scotland is ready to fully benefit on these huge opportunities needs the infrastructure, the skilled workforce, the support from Government and its enterprise agencies, but above all ambitious Scottish companies to lead this Energy Revolution. Nigg Energy Park is a perfect example of where all these come factors come together in a world beating combination.

Tags: Nigg Skills Academy, offshore wind, oil and gas jobs, renewables market

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