IT was trumpeted as a green jobs revolution. But critics have since lashed out at the “broken promises” at the heart of Scotland’s booming renewables sector – insisting thousands of jobs are being lost.

Now fresh concerns have been raised over the £2 billion Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) wind farm project just ten miles off the Fife coast.

Labour argue Scotland has been left “scrabbling around” while Italian firm Saipem – the main contractors – appear set to farm out the majority of manufacturing jobs to Indonesia.

And the party has asked why no assurances were sought from the developer during a two-year period when the Scottish Government was involved in court battles with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) over the project.

It comes amid ongoing concern over the future of the BiFab fabrication yards in Methil and Burntisland, which are currently mothballed.

Unions had hoped the NnG project – which was the subject of a lengthy court battle with the RSPB amid fears it threatened sea birds – would create hundreds of green energy jobs in Fife.

French firm EDF, which bought over the NnG project last year, is reportedly set to make £130 million a year from the wind farm, which will provide power for up to 375,000 homes.

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Gary Smith, secretary of GMB Scotland, said: “Billions of pounds of bill payers’ money are ploughed into the renewables industry each year but the jobs return for Scotland and the rest of the UK has been pathetic – it is a national scandal and the result of political failure.”

He said Westminster had done nothing to ensure that developers tendering for the UK Government’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) subsidy – which incentivises investment in renewable energy – commit to job creation in the local supply chains. Meanwhile, Holyrood “has signed-off planning consents on successive billion pound projects without any guarantees on Scottish jobs”.

He added: “The price of that failure is evidenced by the empty fabrication yards in Methil and Burntisland, where those communities are fighting for scraps of work from the £2bn NnG project which will be based just 10 miles from the Fife coast. The prospect of yet another renewables industry major, this time EDF, pocketing a fortune in public subsidy while the lion’s share of the work gets carried out in Indonesia and then shipped to Scotland is absolutely grotesque.”

In a statement, Labour MSPs Claire Baker and Alex Rowley said: “The more information emerges about this project, the clearer it becomes that the Scottish Government had both the opportunity and the right to demand that there were binding assurances about work coming to BiFab and the wider supply chain.

“Instead, Scotland is yet again scrabbling around looking for a small fraction of the work while the Italian firm Saipem who are the main contractors appear set to farm out the great majority of fabrication to Indonesia.

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“Offshore wind projects have been in the offing for the past decade and SNP ministers must explain why so little has been done to prepare for them.

“We should now have state-of-the-art renewables yards at Methil and Burntisland capable of handling major contracts.”

They continued: “There were unique circumstances in the case of Neart na Gaoithe which involved Scottish ministers supporting the original developers, Mainstream, through the courts for two years. Why was the question of work for BiFab and the supply chain never pinned down during this period?

“SNP ministers have again let down Scotland and, in particular, Fife. There needs to be a full review of what has gone so badly wrong and what needs to be done with great urgency to ensure that the Fife yards can compete on a level playing field.”

Saipem, which has a base in Indonesia, is understood to have won the contract to manufacture up to 54 turbines for NnG earlier this year.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown previously branded the saga a “national scandal”.

Earlier this year, a STUC report on employment in the renewable energy sector said initial hype had “not translated into the jobs boom promised”.

It insisted the industry is characterised by “overseas financial interests, a limited industrial base and precarious work”.

A Scottish Government spokesman said it is “committed to doing everything within its devolved competence to increase Scottish content in offshore wind projects”.

He also called on the UK Government to consider how its CfD process can be restructured “to encourage wider use of the local supply chain during the buildout of offshore wind farms”.

He added: “We are also encouraging all parties to work towards a positive outcome in respect of the ongoing commercial discussions on the NnG project.

“However any action taken by the Scottish Government in support of BiFab or any other Scottish company must be in line with state aid rules.”

EDF and Saipem both declined to comment. However, EDF has said it is committed to using local firms and workers. It argues no Scottish company currently has the capability to manufacture and supply all the steelwork for the NnG project.