£300 million Texas-Highland connection set to revive Ardersier with a facility 'that is good for 100 years'
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The renewal of Ardersier’s Texas connection is set to deliver a massive £300 million investment to accelerate redevelopment plans to create a decommissioning and offshore wind facilities at the Port of Ardersier.
Houston-based private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners will make the multimillion-pound investment in the 450 acre port after appointing former BP executive and Stornoway-native Lewis Gillies as chief executive.
The ambition of the new company, called Haventus, is huge with Mr Gillies saying that not only do they want some facilities available by next summer but also that Ardersier is here to stay for the long-term.
Not only will it create “thousands of jobs” in the construction phase alone, but he said: “We are trying to build a facility here that is good for 100 years, not one that is good for three decades again – we want to provide long-term opportunities.”
Dredging work is already under way at the site for the creation of a new quay to facilitate the decommissioning of North Sea oil rigs at the former McDermott yard that once built the structures and will now disassemble them.
The first phase will see the construction of a new 600m quay for operational access to the massive onshore site which Mr Gillies feels confident can be completed and available for use by summer next year.
Meetings have already been held with offshore oil and gas and renewables companies in order to get it right, Mr Gillies said: “What we want to do is build something that is bespoke to those industries, not just something we think they need.”
He added: “The engagement has been extremely positive so I am extremely excited about this. It is in the Highlands, it is about energy transition and it is a massive investment in the community.
“It is clearly a significant investment for the Highlands and Islands, by anyone’s standards £300 million is one of the bigger investments to be made in the Highlands in an awfully long time – one of the biggest foreign direct investments into Scotland in recent years.
“Our immediate priority is to work with the local community, government departments and local agencies – we want to make this an engaging collective programme, that it is not only the company but the community who is involved.
“Construction has already begun, so there is quite a significant amount of activity there in clearing the site, clearing the harbour – lots of yellow dumper trucks and bulldozers and equipment running around.
“What we would like to do and what we are in the process of doing is accelerating that programme with a view to bringing the first phase of that quay on line next summer.”
He continued: “The just transition [to net zero] is an enormous topic, it is a global debate and a multitude of views. My personal view is that if we want to effect a transition then we have to lead from the front and the way to do that is through a demonstration of what is possible."
Mr Gillies also argues that if the Green Freeport with the main base on the Cromarty Firth and Haventus cooperate then the Highlands could possess a real advantage over other areas in the UK.
“I look forward to engaging with Nigg and Cromarty," he said. "I think the magnitude of the problem that we are trying to provide a solution to is even bigger than the three of us put together.
“So I think working together in a constructive and complimentary way, really could give Inverness and the surrounding area a distinct advantage over other port clusters in Scotland and the UK.”
The renewal of Ardersier’s Texas connection is set to deliver a massive £300 million investment to accelerate redevelopment plans to create a decommissioning and offshore wind facilities at the Port of Ardersier.
Houston-based private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners will make the multi-million pound investment in the 450 acre port after appointing a former BP executive and Stornoway-native Lewis Gillies as chief executive.
The ambition of the new company called Haventus is huge with Mr Gillies saying that not only do they want some facilities available by next summer but also that Ardersier is here to stay for the long-term.
Not only will it create “thousands of jobs” in the construction phase alone but he said: “We are trying to build a facility here that is good for 100 years, not one that is good for three decades again – we want to provide long-term opportunities.”
Dredging work is already underway at the site for the creation of a new quay to facilitate the decommissioning of North Sea oil rigs at the McDermott yard that once built the structures and will now disassemble them.
The first phase will see the construction of a new 600 metre quay to operational access to the massive onshore site which Mr Gillies feels confident can be completed and available for use by the summer of 2024.
Meetings have already been underway with offshore oil and gas and renewables companies in order to get it right, Mr Gillies said: “What we want to do is build something that is bespoke to those industries, not just something we think they need.”
He added: “The engagement has been extremely positive so I am extremely excited about this, it is in the Highlands, it is about energy transition and it is a massive investment in the community.”
The £300 million in direct foreign investment is also one of the biggest in the region for many years and will see a site unused for years be brought back into potentially highly lucrative use.
“It is clearly a significant investment for the Highlands and Islands, by anyone’s standards £300 million is one of the bigger investments to be made in the Highlands in an awfully long time, one of the biggest foreign direct investments into Scotland in recent years,” Mr Gillies said.
“Our immediate priority is to work with the local community, government departments and local agencies – we want to make this an engaging collective programme, that it is not only the company but the community who is involved.
“Construction has already begun, so there is quite a significant amount of activity there in clearing the site, clearing the harbour – lots of yellow dumper trucks and bulldozers and equipment running around.
“What we would like to do and what we are in the process of doing is accelerating that programme with a view to bringing the first phase of that quay on line next summer.
“We are actively engaged with North Sea operators and their contractors and also with wind developers. What we want to do is build something that is bespoke to those industries, not just something we think they need.
“The engagement has been extremely positive so I am extremely excited about this, it is in the Highlands, it is about energy transition and it is a massive investment in the community.
“Assuming all goes well, the construction of these facilities is very labour intensive so there will be thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the construction phase but there will also be hundreds of operational jobs.
“We are trying to build a facility here that is good for 100 years – not one that is good for three decades again – we want to provide long-term opportunities.
“The intent is to basically have the first phase of the new quay constructed by next summer – it is like we have got a farmer’s field and we have got to build a gate and that first 600 metres of the quay our vision is to have that completed and available from next summer.
“We have got a lot of work to do between now and then but we are confident that we can do that.”
He added: “The Just Transition is an enormous topic, it is a global debate and a multitude of views. My personal view is that if we want to effect a transition then we have to lead from the front and the way to do that is through a demonstration of what is possible.
“I look forward to engaging with Nigg and Cromarty, I think the magnitude of the problem that we are trying to provide a solution to is even bigger than the three of us put together.
“So I think working together in a constructive and complimentary way really could give Inverness and the surrounding area a distinct advantage over other port clusters in Scotland and the UK.”
