'We're pleased to be returning': Northern Ireland contractor lands £30million port infrastructure project in Scotland
McLaughlin & Harvey will construct a new heavy-duty quay at Maraen Port of Nigg, enhancing the port’s capacity to support offshore wind developments and the export of high-voltage cables from the adjacent Sumitomo manufacturing facility
Maraen Port of Nigg has awarded the construction contract for its £30m Eastern Inner Dock Quay (EIDQ) project to Northern Ireland building and civil engineering contractor McLaughlin & Harvey.
The EIDQ will comprise a new heavy-duty quay spanning approximately 172,000 sq ft, providing Maraen Port of Nigg with additional roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) capability. Construction preparations have now commenced on site.
The development is supported by a £10m grant from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), forming part of the Scottish Government's commitment to invest up to £500m over five years to strengthen Scotland's offshore wind supply chain.
McLaughlin & Harvey, based in Newtownabbey, previously reconstructed the South Quay at Port of Nigg between 2014 and 2015 - a project that included the installation of 370m new combi-pile quay wall and a 130m x 40m West Finger Quay.
Seamus Devlin, managing director at McLaughlin & Harvey, said: "We're pleased to be returning to the Port of Nigg, enhancing port capacity and operational capability by creating a new quay for the energy sector.
"This project draws on our experience of delivering complex marine projects in port infrastructure across the UK and Ireland."
Maraen Port of Nigg currently benefits from deepwater berths, Green Freeport Tax site and Customs site status, and a record of supporting the deployment of over 4GW of offshore wind capacity.
The EIDQ will serve as a dedicated load-out and export facility for high voltage cables manufactured at the adjacent Sumitomo Electric HVDC cable facility, providing a direct, port-side link between production and deployment. It is also set to increase both capacity and capability across the port.
Rory Gunn, facilities director at Maraen Port of Nigg, added: "The Eastern Inner Dock Quay is a significant project for Maraen Port of Nigg. This investment not only provides a dedicated load out quay for cables from the new Sumitomo factory, its construction also increases the overall quayside capacity of our port.
"The new quay will provide our current and future customers with critical load in and load out options and greatly increases our deep-water quay availability. This project is exactly the kind of targeted infrastructure that the energy industry needs from us and we are looking forward to delivering another successful capital investment project at our site.
"We're pleased to be working again with McLaughlin & Harvey, who know this site well and understand what it takes to successfully deliver projects here to the high quality and safety standards we demand. Their work on the South Quay transformed the capabilities at the Port of Nigg and enabled us to attract large Energy sector project which could previously not be accommodated at our site."