DOUBTS have emerged over Samsung's plans to set up a £100 million offshore wind turbine manfuacturing hub in Fife after executives recently visited a number of other potential locations around the UK.
To the surprise of some senior observers, the Korean conglomerate is allowing itself to be courted by rival port operators in locations including the Highlands and Humberside.
It comes nearly two years after First Minister Alex Salmond announced that Samsung had chosen Methil as its preferred site for turbine manufacturing, in a deal that would see Scottish-owned gearbox maker David Brown also setting up a plant there, creating upwards of 500 jobs.
Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) chief executive Insik Roh said at the time: "We hope to contribute to the Scottish economy through successful testing and certification of our cutting-edge offshore wind turbine and ultimately through establishment of our manufacturing facility here in Methil."
The Highland ports of Nigg and Ardersier, both of which hosted executives from Samsung Heavy Industries' turbines division in September, are making the case that they offer considerably more space than the Fife site.
They argue that this would offer greater potential to increase turbine assembly capacity and house partner factories that could make turbine parts such as blades, nacelles (housing units), towers and foundations.
Samsung representatives have also visited Humberside recently, and there are unconfirmed reports that they have visited other European sites beyond the UK.
Rivals in Fife seem far from pleased at these interventions, the Highland one of which is understood to have received some support from Government agencies Highland and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Development International as Scottish alternatives in the event that Methil loses out.
There were concerns in Fife last week over whether Samsung's priority is still Methil, which was a major coal terminal in previous decades. Parts of the local community are now among the most deprived in Scotland.
The council is considering boosting the port's space by about a third through a land reclamation project of around £20m, helping to address a space issue that saw the port marked down against the likes of Nigg, Ardersier, Leith and Dundee in a Scottish Enterprise assessment several years ago. Fife also envisages partner factories might set up in nearby ports such as Dundee or Rosyth.
The uncertainty comes days after Samsung finished erecting its 7MW demonstrator turbine, the biggest in the world, just 50 metres off the Methil coast. It will begin producing energy for nearly 5000 homes within weeks.
The installation of the turbine, which is due to be inaugurated at a ceremony next spring, has not been as straightforward as hoped.
Samsung first surprised the industry in 2011 by deciding not to award the commission for the steel "jacket" foundation to Burntisland Fabrication (BiFab), whose main base is at Methil and which is seen as one of Scotland's leading renewables manufacturers.
Instead, it chose Renfrew-based Steel Fabrication, having apparently been unhappy about BiFab's timescale for the work. In the event the steel jacket was delayed by a number of months before getting further held up by a week of bad weather in September.
Samsung makes jackets in Korea under a different division, and its representatives have been touring European ports looking for a site where it can make them closer to this market. Although this involves different executives from the ones planning a turbine assembly hub, it is not clear whether they will be situated together.
There are differing views over when Samsung needs to reach a decision about whether to set up a plant and where it will be located, varying from early next year to within the next year.
Roy MacGregor, chairman of Global Energy, which controls Nigg, said Samsung will have "a number of sites that they think are shortlisted. I would hope Nigg would be one of them".
He added: "They must have thought Methil would have been big enough at one stage. I don't know whether their views have shifted."
Youngjae Lee, a deputy project manager at SHI, said: "SHI is currently focused on our offshore prototype turbine. Construction is now complete and we are working towards commissioning at the end of this year. Energy Park Fife remains our preferred site for manufacturing."
Robin Presswood, Fife Council's senior manager for enterprise, planning and protective services, said: "We are pleased Samsung has confirmed that Energy Park Fife is its preferred main site for manufacturing. It's a strong proposition in the market and we are working with other councils to promote the east coast of Scotland. Inevitably, it will be a strategy involving multiple ports to take best advantage of the exceptional potential of the offshore wind industry."
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