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Deal to save wind turbine factory
26/03/2009
First Minister Alex Salmond today celebrated Skykon's takeover of the Vestas wind turbine manufacturing plant near Campbeltown, Argyll.
This will immediately safeguard the 100-strong workforce, and the company also plans to boost employment to more than 300 skilled posts over the next two years. The announcement has the potential to create nearly full employment in the area.
Danish group Skykon, through its new company Welcon Towers, has acquired the plant based at Machrihanish. The deal includes private capital investment of £35 million to expand the plant by nearly three times its current size, and introduce new manufacturing techniques and equipment.
The expanded plant will supply offshore and onshore wind turbines to the international renewables market from a Scottish base.
Taking into account jobs in local supply chain companies, today's announcement is forecast to support over 450 full-time jobs in the area for the long term.
And the construction work will support another 400 jobs in the local area during the building phase, in terms of the direct and indirect impact.
The proposed closure of the Vestas facility was first announced in August 2008. The Scottish Government, Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Scottish Development International (SDI) have all worked together to secure a new deal and long-term employment at Campbeltown - with SDI awarding a RSA grant of £9.2 million to Welcon Towers and HIE contributing around £500,000 in training support.
The First Minister said:
"The impact of this investment will be truly transformational, not just for the Kintyre peninsula but for all of Scotland. It creates high quality and skilled employment in the local area, and gives Scotland a lead in the development of clean, green energy technology - putting our nation at the forefront of global developments.
"Investment of this scale is enormously important at any time, and never more so than during the current economic downturn. It reflects the determination of the Scottish Government, through the delivery of our six-point recovery programme, to do everything we can to encourage jobs and development.
"This investment not only safeguards the future of all the employees at the plant, but the construction of new plant over the next year or so will support nearly 400 jobs. The new facility will support a permanent workforce at Campbeltown of over 300 employees, with another 150 supported indirectly in the wider economy.
"Argyll and Bute was shown recently to have the second highest ratio of job seekers to vacancies in Scotland, with 31 claimants per job opportunity, and this has the potential to turn that around and create nearly full employment in the local area. It is a hugely significant development for families and the local economy.
"The expertise and reputation of this plant in the manufacturing of wind towers, established by Vestas, takes Scotland a huge step forward in achieving global leadership in renewable energy.
"Skykon recognise Scotland's vast potential in offshore and onshore wind power - we have 25 per cent of Europe's wind energy potential, as well as a quarter of Europe's tidal resource.
"That is why this crucial investment in Campbeltown comes on top of a billion pounds of commitment to renewable energy projects in Scotland over recent months, with a similar level of investment in the pipeline.
"Our potential to generate electricity from renewables is up to 60GW - ten times Scotland's peak electricity demand. The economic and environmental potential is vast, and significant on a European and global as well as Scottish basis.
"The announcement by Skykon brings Scotland one step closer to realising our ambition to become the world leader in clean, green energy."
William Roe, chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), said:
"This is a casebook example of what can be achieved through highly integrated partnership working. This announcement will boost the economy of the whole area, and we will continue to work with our partners to maximise its impact for the benefit of surrounding communities.
"This investment in the manufacturing capacity of the Highlands and Islands reflects HIE's commitment to driving the renewables sector into a leading role in the area's economy and to meeting Scotland's energy needs."
Recent statistics show that the entire Argyll and Bute Council area has the second highest ratio of job claimants per jobcentre vacancy in Scotland. Across Argyll and Bute, there are 31 claimants per job compared to a Scottish average of 10 claimants per job.
Scottish Government renewables targets are to meet 50 per cent of electricity demand from renewables by 2020, and an interim target of 31 per cent by 2011.
Since coming to office, the Scottish Government has consented 20 renewables projects, totalling over 1.5 GW.
Total installed capacity of renewables in Scotland is over three Gigawatts, compared with just over 2090 MW from nuclear. Adding in all the potential energy from onsented renewable projects to those already operating brings the total to over 5.5 Gigawatts (around 35 per cent of electricity demand), meaning the Scottish Government is already set to surpass the 2011 target.
In 2007, renewable electricity generation reached 20.1 per cent of gross electricity consumption.