A campaign to persuade EDF Renewables to place fabrication work in Scotland for the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe wind farm is to hold a major rally in Edinburgh on Friday.
The Fife Ready for Renewal grouping, organised by Unions GMB and Unite and supported by the Scottish Trades Union Congress, will assemble on Morrison Street at 2pm.
EDF has an office on the street and rally organisers said the campaign will bring its message that Fife-based fabricator BiFab must secure work on the project direct to the developer.
The campaign was organised after reports in May suggested EDF had selected a lead foundations contractor that is planning to manufacture most or all of the 54 jackets for NnG in Indonesia.
GMB Scotland Secretary Gary Smith and Unite Scottish Secretary Pat Rafferty (pictured) said the local mood is “turning to anger”, according to a letter sent by the trade union chiefs to Derek Mackay, the Scottish government’s finance cabinet secretary.
In the letter, published on the eve of the rally, Smith and Rafferty said a failure to secure work locally will come to be regarded by the Scottish people as a “scandal”.
“The blunt fact is this: if we cannot achieve work in Fife from this massive development, just ten miles of its coast, then we will simply not achieve any renewables industry of scale in Scotland,” the letter stated.
“These companies are literally shipping their profits from our natural resources abroad whilst shipping in the infrastructure that Scottish fabrications yard could be building.”
This is a “political failure”, added the union bosses, who asked why Holyrood did not “nail down” commitments from the developer in light of government support for the project.
“The fabrication yards in Fife…lie empty and it is no surprise that the mood in the community is turning to anger.”
EDF said it recognises “the right of people to express their views and we understand that the NnG project is seen as critical to securing more work for the BiFab yards”.
“However, the issue is far bigger than our project alone and we are working with a range of bodies including industry groups, trades unions and the Scottish and UK Governments to develop a long term plan for BiFab.”