PluSEZ & MinuSEZ: Analysis of Renewables Freeport in Scotland

By George ELIOT

PluSEZ & MinuSEZ is a series of analyses of existing or proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ).


Britain's new Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport (ICFGF) is expected to grow on the back of the offshore wind industry in the North Sea (off Scotland's northeast coast). We give it a 50-50 chance of success. 


PluSEZ (Advantages):

1) The growth in offshore wind is indeed phenomenal and the cost of generated electricity is commercially competitive, which may make the zone big enough to make the project self-sufficient

2) The government is offering tax and social security concessions.

3) Proximity to Inverness Airport and the inclusion of Inverness Harbour in the freeport area.


MinuSEZ (Disadvantages):

1) The land is scattered across 520 hectares in three areas: The Cromarty Firth (including Nigg, Port of Cromarty Firth and Deephaven); Inverness (including Inverness Harbour and Inverness Campus); and Ardersier. The scattered locations may be driven by genuine space needs for assembly of wind turbines, but the freeport may also be spreading itself too thin from a management perspective (no critical mass).

2) The government could have named it "the Loch Ness Freeport" rather than the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport (ICFGF), which is quite a mouthful.

3) It is state-driven (top-down) project, which feels like “rebalancing” away from Edinburgh / Glasgow. But a "Northern Powerhouse 3.0" it ain't.

4) The area has a harsh climate that makes it unattractive to live and work in (so it is a freeport driven only by push factors: i.e. by necessity).

5) The area is far from the oil exploration hub of Aberdeen, which has an ecosystem for offshore projects (oil/gas) already.


View of Inverness Harbour (Source: Wikipedia)






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