Campbeltown wind turbine factory closes permanently – BBC news
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A wind turbine factory in Argyll has been permanently closed, with administrators now selling off equipment used at the site.
Owners CS Wind effectively mothballed the Campbeltown factory, which manufactured offshore and onshore wind farm equipment, in the spring of 2020.
The company said “deteriorating market conditions” had led to a lack of new contracts and declining revenues.
All staff have now either left or been made redundant.
Three-quarters of the 94-strong workforce had already departed in August 2020 with only a handful of staff left running the facility.
The manufacturing plant, located at the Machrihanish Business Park near Campbeltown, was bought by CS Wind, a South Korean firm, in 2016.
At the time it was Britain’s only UK facility for manufacturing onshore and offshore wind towers.
It previously went into administration in 2011 before a partnership between Scottish and Southern Energy and Marsh Wind Technology saved the factory.
After CS Wind failed to secure major work with the Kincardine and Triton Knoll offshore projects in 2019, the majority of the staff were made redundant.
At the time the Unite union called the move a “major blow to Scotland’s renewables manufacturing capacity.”
“Market conditions” are being blamed for CS Wind (UK) being wound up, yet market conditions for wind power have never looked better.
Thousands of towers are required for turbines being planted in the North Sea, with a huge further boost planned in the next 10 years.
Existing onshore windfarms are being renewed after 25 years of torque and tension from generating power.
So there must be other explanations for the repeated failure to make the Campbeltown factory into a success story.
Part of the problem is thought to be the South Korean ownership failing to give the plant the support it needed in the past five years. There’s been a stand-off with Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which provided public funding.
But there is a wider question about the failure to link the renewable power revolution to a manufacturing base in Scotland.
The Scottish government sunk more than £37m in three BiFab yards in Fife and Lewis for fabricating offshore platforms. That also went into administration.
For more environmental fails, click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/environment-matters-2/