IN 1915, the Montrose poet Violet Jacob published the Wild Geese, a subsequently much loved poem in which an exile grows homesick on hearing the North wind describe its passage down across the rivers Tay and Forth.

Today, the same wind might whisper about the rays of economic sunshine it had glimpsed over oil capital Aberdeen, the aspirational Dundee Waterfront, Fife, and resurgent Leith, Edinburgh's port district.

Aberdeen remains the beating engineering and logistics heart of North Sea oil and is a world class hub for subsea skills. The city and neighbouring shire boast successes ranging from asset management to prime agricultural and food products. Aberdeen Airport saw passenger numbers soar by an annualised 10.2% in March, the biggest rise in Scotland.

As a global energy hub, its economy has underpinned Scotland's for almost 50 years and renewables offer a route to continued vibrancy.

"Renewable energy offers significant opportunity to build on oil and gas engineering expertise," said Tom Smith, chairman of Aberdeen City & Shire Economic Future (ACSEF), a private-public partnership driving economic development. ACSEF is behind the £750 million Energetica low carbon community, a private sector vision being delivered by local authorities and development agency Scottish Enterprise (SE).

Taking shape from Aberdeen to Peterhead, Energetica encompasses: energy technology companies; science and business parks; energy efficient housing; a decommissioning facility for obsolete North Sea infrastructure; and high class leisure facilities.

Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), a private-public partnership, is partnering French energy services giant Technip and Swedish utilities group Vattenfall in the £200m European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) proposed for Aberdeen bay and awaiting consent.

EOWDC would be a test site for new turbine and foundation designs, and electrical grid connection, while generating electricity equivalent to two thirds of Aberdeen's domestic demand.

"Already companies like Technip have chosen the region as their renewables headquarters, and with Energetica we are making sure we continue to attract inward investment in all forms of energy," said ACSEF's Tom Smith.

At Dundee Waterfront, £100m of public investment has readied a slice of the 240 hectare site for fabricating offshore turbines. Low Carbon Renewables East Enterprise Area status for Port of Dundee, owned by Forth Ports plc, offers tax breaks and 'open door' consenting.

Dundee City Council (DCC) expects renewables to create 3,000 direct and indirect jobs. Its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Forth Ports and utilities group SSE guarantees waterfront capacity for SSE's wind energy partnership.

V&A at Dundee, the £45m centre of design scheduled for Dundee Waterfront in 2015, is forecast to attract a steady 300,000 visitors a year from year two onwards, one reason that Malmaison hotel chain will lease a new hotel in Dundee from 2013. TheWaterfront will also host start-up offices for the computer games industry, for which Dundee has a world class reputation to set alongside its pre-eminence in life sciences.

In Fife, headline investments include: e-tailer Amazon UK's order fulfilment centre at Dunfermline; Meridian Salmon Group'choice of Rosyth as an international base for salmon processing; and property developer Shepherd Offshore's plans for an industrial site near Dunfermline, with an eye on renewables and heavy engineering.

The Port of Rosyth, owned by Forth Ports, is ideal for importing raw materials and exporting goods: contractors for the new Forth Road Bridge are using it for logistics. At Methil, Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab) is anticipating offshore wind farm and marine energy work to complement fabrication for oil and gas at its Burntisland facility. It expects to produce up to a 100 wind turbine towers annually by 2020.

The Port of Methil, owned by Forth Ports, anchors the 135 acre Energy Park Fife on which SE and Fife Council have invested £17m in infrastructure improvements. The new Forth Road Bridge to open in 2015 will encourage Fife tourism and supply-chain companies and create development opportunities. The Port of Kirkcaldy, owned by Forth Ports, has reopened to freight.

"Fife's an ideal location, less than 20 miles from Edinburgh international airport, and offers a large pool of skilled workers," said Robin Presswood, senior manager, business and strategy, for Fife Council.

"It's the only area near Edinburgh where Regional Selective Grants are available and its public agencies are proactive."

Port of Leith, the headquarters of Forth Ports plc, is the largest enclosed deepwater port in Scotland and is identified in Scotland's National Renewables Infrastructure Plan (NRIP) as the country's leading renewables hub. Leith is also a Low Carbon Renewables East Enterprise Area, offering tax advantages.

Spain's Gamesa has named Leith as its preferred location for wind turbine manufacturing on an 80 acre site. Leith is home to Pelamis Wave Power, which has already deployed its advanced, marine wave energy machines commercially.

As in Dundee, an MoU between Forth Ports, SE, and the City of Edinburgh Council has formalised a development master plan to create an ultra-modern port.

"We see a busy, bright future for all our ports in the renewables race," said Charles Hammond, chief executive of Forth Ports. "We have a strong pipeline of enquiries for the manufacture and assembly of offshore wind turbines with companies interested in the key assets that our ports can provide including the relevant skills and experience; land availability in vibrant cities; deep water facilities; and the flexible commitment to meet customers needs." Ten local authorities collaborate through East Coast Renewables (ECR), a collective approach underlining belief that the opportunity in the area is so large that all stand to gain.