A £5million decommissioning fund unveiled by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Aberdeen yesterday will be targeted at ports looking to cash in on dismantling the topsides of North Sea platforms.
Ms Sturgeon said the cash would be open to “ports and companies” with “proposals on how they see infrastructure development or innovation around salvage or transport”.
She added that the Decommissioning Challenge Fund (DCF) – the details of which will be confirmed “in due course” – would not be aimed at project management or highly lucrative plug and abandonment projects.
Speaking at a visit to crane hire firm Sparrows, Ms Sturgeon said: “This is about making sure Scottish companies benefit fully from the opportunities of decommissioning.
“Scottish companies and companies across the UK are already hugely successful in winning work if you look at project management, the plugging and abandonment of wells.
“But this about trying to look and make sure we’ve got the infrastructure, the skills and the capacity to benefit more from topside removal and onshore dismantling.”
The moves comes after the government’s economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, published a decommissioning action plan setting out how it will help firms take advantage of the estimated £17.6billion decommissioning spend over the next nine years.
Ms Sturgeon added: “This is a £17billion economic opportunity over the next 10 years.
“So, if we get it right, and if Scottish companies benefit from that, then will have a positive impact on skills, jobs and general economic activity across the north-east.”
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