Sign off for Highlands green freeport plan for 11,000 jobs

A landmark agreement will be signed later concluding a five-year planning process to establish a green freeport in the Highlands.

Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport (ICFGF) is expected to generate more than 11,000 jobs over the next 25 years.

It aims to become a major international hub for the offshore renewable energy sector - made up of zones where tax incentives and lower tariffs are available to companies.

The agreement will be signed between the port, the UK and Scottish governments and Highland Council.

The Highland port has committed to meeting net zero targets and supporting fair work practices.

The project is one of two green freeports in Scotland, with the other on the Firth of Forth.

The agreement, called a memorandum of understanding (MOU), creates a formal framework for co-operation and responsibilities around the running of the port.

The signing also unlocked £25m of UK government seed funding, financial support provided to companies in their early stages, to support local infrastructure projects.

ICFGF is a partnership of private and public sector organisations, and its directors include bosses at Highland Council, University of the Highlands and Islands, SSE Renewables and Global Energy Group.

It has six main sites including Port of Cromarty Firth in Invergordon, Port of Nigg, Highland Deephaven near Evanton, and Inverness Campus.

Over the next 25 years, ICFGF said it expected to create thousands of "high-quality" jobs, many of them in the offshore wind sector.

It also said the port would attract more than £6.5bn of investment.

Green freeports are places inside a country's borders where normal tax and customs rules do not apply in full.

In Scotland, a port's boundaries are agreed by both the Scottish and UK governments.

Green freeports contain two types of sites where the special rules apply - tax sites and customs sites.

Companies can base themselves in one or a combination of both types.

The ports also offer financial and operational incentives, including tax breaks.

In 2022, five bids were received by the Scottish and UK governments to create two of the economic zones in Scotland.

They were: Clyde Green Freeport, Aberdeen City and Peterhead Green Freeport, Opportunity Inverness and Cromarty Firth, Forth Green Freeport (FGF) and Orkney Green Freeport.

FGF and Inverness and Cromarty Firth were announced as the winning bids in September 2023.

The operators of FGF said the freeport was open for business.

They expect to receive £25m seed funding soon following UK and Scottish government approval of a full business case.

The port has an active governance board and delivery team in place.