A strategic dock, ten miles from Glasgow City Centre, is to undergo a £1.3 million transformation to create a key location for Scotland’s burgeoning renewable energy sector.
The 53 hectare Westway industrial site and adjoining dock in Renfrewshire is to be one of the first beneficiaries of Scotland’s National Renewable Infrastructure Fund (NRIF) which aims to bring dock facilities back into operational use to support and attract companies involved in the manufacture of heavy components for the renewables sector.
Site owner, WB Westway, has successfully secured £500,000 from the fund to support its ambitious £1.3 million project that will involve dredging of the dock area, work to create a navigable channel along the River Cart and improvements to the quayside to make it capable of taking loadings from heavy components manufactured on site.
The project will broaden the range of manufacturing locations available to the renewables energy sector in Scotland and in particular provide a site on the upper Clyde which will enable companies to tap into the connectivity, research and development base and skills available within the greater Glasgow conurbation.
The dock improvements have potential to accelerate overall ambitious development plans for a further 30 acres of land with a masterplan that could see up to £70 million invested in the area over the next decade to create further business infrastructure including a bridge over the River Cart.