How Kishorn Port is gearing up for portside manufacturing of concrete gravity and floating offshore wind bases

Scottish ports have long served the UK’s energy industry, from the building of offshore rigs to the handling and unloading of oil tankers. As the UK moves away from oil and gas power, these ports will be at the heart of the green energy transition, supporting the supply chains that enable the offshore wind rollout.    

With the UK Government aiming to deliver up to 50GW of operational offshore wind projects by 2030, including at least 50 floating offshore wind bases¹, portside manufacturing with homegrown concrete, cement and aggregates will be key to unlocking this opportunity.  It will also help to create high-quality jobs, provide Clean Industry Bonus opportunities for coastal communities and retain social and economic value on our shores.     

Kishorn Port, located in the Wester Ross region of the Scottish Highlands, is readying itself to support the offshore wind rollout with a £42 million investment in expanded port infrastructure.  

The expansion is boosting the local economy, employing circa 50 staff from local contractors in the construction phase. Once works are complete, Kishorn could support a further 1,500 jobs, providing good opportunities in an area where permanent roles are limited.     

Home to one of Europe’s largest dry docks, Kishorn was first developed over 50 years ago as a fabrication and manufacturing yard for North Sea oil and gas platforms.  

These include the Ninian Central Platform, which was the world’s largest floating concrete structure at the time of completion, with the base measuring 140 metres in diameter and weighing 157,000 tonnes.  The platform is still standing, almost 50 years later, a testament to the 3,000-strong construction team and the suitability and longevity of concrete in marine environments.

Today, work is underway to extend the dry dock to 260 metres in length and 180 metres in width, with the excavated material being reused on site to fill a reclaimed foreshore area, supporting circular economic practices.  The extended dry dock will enable offshore wind bases to be produced on site at scale, efficiently and repeatably.  

Kishorn’s strategic location adjacent to a quarry and a deep water loch provides additional benefits for offshore wind developers. Manufacturing bases with materials from the quarry, which contains 6.5 million tonnes of consented aggregate reserves suitable for use in concrete, will lower the need for transport and help to reduce embodied carbon emissions. 

The proximity to the loch means that bases manufactured on site can be stored in the water before they are floated out to be installed at wind farms in the North of Scotland East and West, Irish and Celtic seas, with the longer-term potential to export bases further afield.

Port development projects like Kishorn will be vital for making the UK’s offshore wind rollout a success, and the mineral products sector is ready to collaborate to help maximise this opportunity.       

1. UK Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) Task Force (2025) Floating Wind: Anchoring the next generation offshore