Decom chief blasts choice of rival port over Dundee

Preferred location for UK’s first ultra deep facilities ‘could cost taxpayers up to £100m’

The man leading Dundee’s bid to be a decommissioning hub has blasted a decision to develop ultra deep facilities at a rival port, claiming the bill for taxpayers could reach £100 million.

The Scottish Government, backed by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), has selected Dales Voe in Shetland ahead of Dundee as the preferred location for the UK’s first ultra deep water port for largescale decom work.

Still furious at the decision a month on, Calum Falconer, of Dundeecom, said the move “flew in the face of impartiality, objectiveness and fair competition”.

And he claimed the “handout” from taxpayers to fund the development would “likely be in the region of £100m”.

The Scottish Government has hit back, saying this was not a figure it recognised in any “present or past Scottish Government decommissioning policy”.

Mr Falconer said:“At best, this whole issue is in serious commercial conflict, and at worst a non-transparent, politically stimulated knee-jerk that, from an economic perspective, is likely to be a car crash of Holyrood-esque proportions in its return to the taxpayer,” he said.

And he insisted Dundee had a “superior quayside, similar water depth and channel access, and far better logistical infrastructure”.

Mr Falconer said he felt the UK decommissioning supply chain would “right size and right skill itself when the time is right for investment, on the back of successful contracts” but it needed impartial support from government and regulators.

“Above all, politicians and regulators need to stop using decommissioning as a cheap political points-scoring weapon,” he said.

Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said the Scottish Government would shortly publish the “independent and impartial” feasibility study carried out by EY which identified Dales Voe as the preferred site. And he noted that Dundee had received considerable support from the government’s Decommissioning Challenge Fund.

This has included £582,010 to Oilfield Machinery to enable it to place a heavy lift crane at the Port of Dundee.

Mr Wheelhouse said the report “demonstrated that Dundee cannot accommodate these ‘heavy lift’ decommissioning vessels and that Dales Voe in Shetland was a clear frontrunner for such a facility”.

He added: “The same opportunities for decommissioning in Dundee that present today will remain even with the creation of an ultra deep water facility”.

Picture: Kris Miller. Calum Falconer, of Dundeecom, has criticised the move on decommissioning.