AFTER a decade of lying all but dormant, six years of deadlock over its sale and threats of compulsory purchase, new owners took charge of the former Nigg fabrication yard yesterday, heralding the creation of thousands of jobs in Highlands.

Global Energy Group, which emerged as the preferred bidder earlier this year, now predicts there will be at least 2000 people working on the Cromarty Firth yard by 2015 on offshore renewable energy, as well as on the likes of subsea oil and gas projects.

Scottish Government figures estimate the average salaries at the Nigg Energy Park, as it will be called, will be about £37,000 a year, substantially higher than the wages of the average Scottish worker.

Although the new jobs will not reach the 5000 once employed building oil rigs, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) say the 2000 jobs will mean an employment rise of 2.9% in the Inner Moray Firth.

The 238-acre Nigg site, which boasts one of the biggest dry docks in Europe, is to be upgraded, and £1.8 million in funding from HIE will be used to help transform it into a multi-use modern energy park.

There are even hopes within Global that if a turbine manufacturer can be attracted to the Easter Ross yard, an additional 1500 jobs could be created.

First Minister Alex Salmond described Nigg as the best yard in Europe, which had been effectively a ghost facility for more than 10 years. He said it would now lead the renaissance of marine engineering in the Highlands.

He said: “Scotland has huge natural resources and a wealth of expertise in offshore engineering. Global Energy Group’s purchase of the Nigg yard provides an unprecedented opportunity to harness both of these and help build a new renewables industry with the potential to re-industrialise communities across Scotland.

“Nigg is an excellent location for offshore oil and gas and renewables manufacturing. The scale and water depth are ideal for fabrication and maintenance of the great electricity devices that will power the economies of the future.”

He added: “We estimate the direct jobs from Global Energy will bring average wages of £37,000, while the expansion of the oil part of the yard will mean an average wage of £36,000, so we are talking about serious, high-quality jobs,” he said.

Mr Salmond contrasted the news from Nigg with that of the demise of the carbon capture project at Longannet in Fife.

Global Energy’s chairman Roy MacGregor, who was involved in recruiting the first 2000 workers for the US owners of the Nigg fabrication yard in 1971, said yesterday was a special day.

He added: “From the outset our vision has always been to develop the site as a multiple-user, multi-sector facility serving the needs of the energy industry.

“Having completed this vital first stage of purchasing the site, we are confident we will soon be in a position to make further announcements both on our detailed strategy for Nigg and on significant commercial opportunities.”

Meanwhile, the Scottish engineering sector is expecting increased Government support for offshore wind, wave and tidal projects in a UK Government review of the system of renewable obligation certificates announced yesterday.

And in a separate announcement, it emerged a Japanese firm is to test a new way of harvesting tidal energy in Scotland. Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) will try out its new technology at the European Marine Energy Centre EMEC. The tests will take place at Fall of Warness, Orkney.

The company said it would use its “expertise in engines, marine propulsion and gas turbines systems” to develop a tidal-power generation system.

The company makes transport and industrial equipment, including aircraft, marine vessels and power plants. It also manufacturers consumer products such as motor-cycles and watercraft.

A spokesman said: “With its technological wealth and brand prowess, [KHI] group strives to protect the global environment and contribute to the development of a sustainable society.”

Mr Salmond said: “Japan is one of the great industrial nations of the world and I am encouraged it shares Scotland’s vision of building on a strong engineering heritage to harness our natural resources and generate clean, renewable power that can reduce harmful emissions and tackle global climate change.”