Bifab collapse after missing out on windfarm contract
Scottish renewables contractor Bifab has gone into administration.
T h e c o m p a n y , w h i c h has which has yards in Burntisland and Methil, had previously been saved by the Scottish Government and Canadian firm JV Driver back in 2017.
A plan to manufacture eight wind turbine jackets as par t of the Neart Na Gaoithe windfarm off the coast of Fife fell through, with both the UK and Scottish Governments saying their hands were tied by legal issues.
With the S cottish Government being a minority shareholder, it was unable to make fur ther investment without support from JV Driver.
In a statement, Bifab said: “Bifab can confirm that the board has agreed to place the company in administration following the S cottish Government’s decision to remove contract assurances.
“The company has worked tirelessly to bring jobs into Fife and Lewis with some success. However, the absence of supply chain protections in Scotland and the wider UK have consistently undermined our abilit y to compete with government-owned and government-supp or ted yards outside and inside the European Union.
“We would urge the Scottish and UK Governments to address these structural challenges as a matter of urgency in order to ensure that the benefits of offshore renewables are shared more widely with communities across the country.”
A £2 billion deal for Bifab to manufacture eight wind turbine jackets at its yards in Methil as part of the Neart Na Gao it he(NnG) project collapsed last month, and the UK and Scottish Governments have said they have no legal route to provide further financial support to the company.
Kirkcaldy MSP David Torrance, whose constituency contains two of Bifab’s yards, said :“I' m extremely di sappointed to hear the breaking news this morning that Bifab has filed for administration.
"The only positive from this is that if there are investors waiting in the wings, with the help of the Scottish Government they will be allowed to come in and invest in the company and take it for ward to a positive future for the renewables sector and create jobs in the local area."
Joint Trade Union Secretaries Gary Smith and Pat Rafferty, of GMB Scotland& Unite Scotland issued a statement which said: “Bifab’s administration exposes the myth of Scotland’s renewables revolution as well as a decade of political hypocrisy and failure.
“The workers and communities dependent on these yards have fought so hard for a future and everyone was hoping that 2021 would finally be the turning point.
“Shame fully the Scottish Government has buried these hopes justin time for Christmas and they have worked together with UK Government in doing so.
“A decade on from the promise of a ‘Saudi Arabia of renewables’ and 28,000 full time jobs, we’ve been left with industrial ruins in Fife and Lewis.”
Scottish Labour economy spokesperson Alex Rowley said: “This terrible news will come as a hammer blow to workers across Scotland”