Bosses behind the Forth Green Freeport say the region will deliver £7bn of private and public funding over the next decade.
The consortium has submitted its “Outline Business Case” (OBC) to the Scottish and UK Governments, a key step in reaching freeport status.
Spanning Grangemouth, Leith, Rosyth, Burntisland and Edinburgh Airport, the freeport has a “focus” on offshore wind manufacturing and production of alternative fuels.
The OBC sets out that the site will be a catalyst for creating up to 38,350 jobs, almost 19,000 of which will be directly linked to the targeted sectors.
Overall Gross Value Added will be £8.4bn, it said.
Leith, Burntisland and Rosyth will see growth “through the manufacture of the next generation of offshore wind components”, the consortium said, including floating offshore wind.
It will stimulate “innovative shipbuilding and advanced modular manufacturing and assembly” at Babcock’s site in Rosyth, while Grangemouth will support the just transition from the reliance on hydrocarbons to alternative fuels and energy sources.
The Forth freeport bid was selected by the UK and Scottish Governments in January, alongside Cromarty Firth in the Highlands, delivering new business and tax boosts for those regions.
It now covers 552 hectares across Grangemouth, Leith, Rosyth, Burntisland and Edinburgh Airport, which includes joining the Burntisland site to Leith to create the “Mid-Forth tax site”.
The consortium includes Babcock International, CalaChem, Edinburgh Airport, Falkirk Council, Fife Council, Forth Ports, Ineos, Scarborough Muir Group, City of Edinburgh Council and The Royal Navy (HMS Caledonia).
Next the OBC will be reviewed before being approved, allowing the Forth Green Freeport to become operational.
The consortium will then develop a final business case in Spring 2024 to the Scottish and UK Governments to secure seed capital funding linked to the Green Freeport.
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