Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed a multimillion-pound plan to create hundreds of jobs in the north.
The Nigg Energy Park on the Cromarty Firth was named in the Budget as one of three Scottish enterprise zones which will receive enhanced capital allowances.
The incentive means firms moving into Nigg yard – bought last year by Global Energy Group – will be able to buy expensive machinery for the site and write off the full cost of the plant against profits.
The Treasury said the Scottish Government had estimated the initiative would employ more than 1,000 people at Nigg directly and up to 1,700 people in total.
Global chairman Roy MacGregor said he hoped the announcement would encourage more companies to establish themselves at Nigg.
He said: “We are in the process of redeveloping the site, and becoming an enterprise zone with enhanced capital allowances gives us a great boost.
“Hopefully it will encourage people who were on the fence and wondering where to invest that this is the place to come.
“We had the chancellor up a few months ago to see the site first-hand and what we had planned for the area, and hopefully that visit had an influence on his decision.”
The tax breaks will also be offered to enterprise areas in Dundee and Irvine and will cost the Treasury £20million over the next five years.