Financial investment in facilities at Arnish Point, Stornoway - consultancy report April 2007

“The renewable energy sector has been identified as a key development sector by HIE Innse Gall and is an important driver for change within the Creating Communities for the Future area strategy. Natural resources are abundant in the area thus providing an important strategic rationale for developers locating to the area and underpinning the area’s ambition to become a global player in renewable energy generation and manufacturing.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) were commissioned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), in February 2007, to review the rationale for their (past) investment in Arnish Point, Stornoway and to consider (future) options for use of the site.

The overall objectives of this study were twofold, namely to:

• Comment on whether the investment decision processes adopted by HIE – in regard to the prioritisation of the Arnish Point site for the manufacture of renewables components, (primarily towers and piles) – were consistent with HIE (and other relevant public sector) guidance in relation to market appraisals, investment commitments and ongoing monitoring and evaluation; and,
• Assess, on a qualitative basis, the opportunities for the future use of the site to provide an initial view of the best option (or options) to take forward to maximise future economic and other benefits to the Western Isles and wider Highlands and Islands economy.

Key Issues In assisting HIE to address the first of these objectives the key issue we were asked to comment upon was the processes HIE adopted, against existing guidelines, to:

• Identify renewable energy as a key market opportunity – specifically in relation to the manufacture of infrastructure components for onshore and offshore wind farms;
• Support the investment by HIE in the upgrading of the Arnish Point, Cambrian Engineering Limited (Cambrian Engineering) and (under the proposals of the then Administrator) Camcal Limited (Camcal); and,
• Monitor, control, evaluate and consequently manage these investments (to the benefit of the local and regional economies).

The full report is available to download here, right, in MS Word and Adobe pdf formats.