The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Unions resurrect the battle for BiFab
Trade unions have launched a campaign to save Fife’s mothballed BiFab yards amid fears they have missed out on another major contract.
Work to create jackets for 60 turbines off the Fife coast could have created up to 1,000 jobs in Methil and Burntisland.
The GMB and Unite say French energy firm EDF will, instead, award the £2 billion project to a company in Indonesia – a move the unions claim will kill the troubled Scottish yards.
The campaign, Fife Ready for Renewal, calls on EDF to end the uncertainty and confirm the work for the Neart na Goaith (NnG) wind farm, off the Isle of May, will be carried out locally.
Unions say manufacturing jackets at the other side of the world then shipping them to Fife would create the same carbon emissions as 35 million cars.
GMB Scottish secretary Gary Smith said: “Fife is primed to help deliver the next generation of energy in the form of renewables manufacturing through its yards in Burntisland and Methil.”
Unite spokesman Pat Rafferty said: “If the bulk of the wind turbine jackets are built in yards just 10 miles from the wind farm, it would mean less shipping and significantly less carbon emissions over the lifespan of the NnG project.”
EDF has refused to comment on the speculation, but a spokeswoman for the company said: “We are currently going through a procurement process and, once the contracts are ready to be announced, we will do so.”
The Scottish Government loaned BiFab £15m in November 2017, dragging it back from the brink of administration.
At First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard called on Nicola Sturgeon to “send a clear message to EDF that if it wishes to be part of Scotland’s renewables future, it must stand by promises made to workers and the communities of Fife”.
The first minister said: “Not all of the levers over this lie within our hands.
“We took the action that we took to save BiFab because we do want to see it have a positive, prosperous future and we’re determined to do everything we can to ensure that is the case.”