UK backs floating wind hub with £55 million grant

The port will now try to secure match funding from other investors with a view to the port becoming operational by 2028.

The Port of Cromarty Firth is set to be a major hub for floating offshore wind in the UK, which is being hailed as ‘crucial’ to delivering 2030 targets for offshore wind.

“Offshore wind projects are crucial to delivering the UK’s mission for clean power by 2030 and to become a clean energy superpower,” the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero says.

The expansion, says the announcement, will make the Port of Cromarty Firth the first one able to actually manufacture the turbines on site and at scale.

Up to 1,000 jobs could be created once the port is fully operational.

At the end of January, the government ‘unleashed’ up to £30 billion (€36 billion) in what it called ‘home-grown clean power’, including 13 offshore wind projects that were not identified.

“Inheriting outdated and archaic infrastructure restrictions that slowed and jammed the building of offshore clean energy projects, ministers are streamlining the consenting process to accelerate their construction,” a government statement said. “As set out in the Chancellor’s growth speech, this will hasten the delivery of vital infrastructure projects and unlock growth as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, while protecting nature and the environment.”