ROSYTH has missed out on a massive windfall and more energy-related jobs "by a hair's breadth", according to MP Douglas Chapman.
The bad news is that a share of £160 million funding from the UK Government that would have paid for major infrastructure developments at the soon-to-be green freeport will now go elsewhere.
It's a pot of money to help develop facilities for the construction and delivery of floating offshore wind turbines, with plans for a lot more of our energy to come from windfarms in the sea.
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Mr Chapman, the MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, said: "Following a call from the minister Andrew Bowie MP on Monday, it became clear that Rosyth had missed out by a hair's breadth in winning the FLOWMIS funding, however we are on the reserve list should the winning ports at Cromarty and Port Talbot find that they can't deliver what's expected of them.
"I believe it also opens the door for Rosyth to be part of a wider supply chain, so we can begin to use the skills and talents of those who are moving out of oil and gas and into renewables, as well as the possibility of apprenticeships should some of these supply chain jobs come here."
The FLOWMIS (Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme) was set up the UK Government as part of their ambitions to deliver up to 50 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.
But to do so they need more investment in port facilities that can offer a substantial depth of water, heavy lift capacity and an extensive quayside.
These features are needed to enable the serial fabrication, marshalling, assembly and transport of floating offshore wind turbines, and their foundations that can each weigh thousands of tonnes and require significant space.
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The £160m in grant funding is to enable these investments in the ports to be made.
Mr Chapman said: "The overall funding package underlines how much electricity capacity we can produce from the seas around our shores and questions need to be asked why domestic energy prices are cripplingly high when we have abundant energy potential within Scotland.
"I will continue to keep the pressure on the UK Government to support our wind industry in Scotland, but the jobs , manufacturing and energy revenues must come to Scotland too. The days of Scotland giving resources away must be well and truly over."
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