Extra £2.2 million approved for Scapa port project

Orkney islands councillors have approved plans to spend a further £2.2 million on developing the proposed Scapa Deep Water Quay.

The decision was made today (Thursday, December 19) at a private meeting of the full council, with the new funding to be spent on bringing the port project to a “shovel ready” stage.

Last month, Orkney Islands Council (OIC) set aside a budget of £4 million to deliver a new strategy for how the county can benefit most from offshore energy opportunities.

The draft Strategic Offshore Energy Development Strategy was created following concerns that Orkney’s existing piers had “not received the marketing attention they merit.”

The new vision was also prompted by worries that too much focus had been given to the big projects in the local authority’s Harbours Masterplan – the Scapa Deep Water Quay, recently estimated to cost £275 million, and the Hatston Logistics Base.

Now, councillors have made their first allocation of the new offshore energy strategy’s £4 million budget, with over half of it to be spent on developing the proposed Scapa port.

Chief executive of council, Oliver Reid, said: “Considering a project of this size, scope and complexity as part of our Offshore Energy Development Strategy is a significant undertaking for this organisation and indeed for Orkney.

“It would involve facilitating the development of an entirely new harbour facility within Scapa Flow, unprecedented in terms of scale, logistical requirements and technical demands.

“In line with the previous decisions of the council, today’s decision is not about approving the project. It’s about making sure the council has access to all the information it needs to make an informed decision on the project bringing it to the next stage so it can be retained as a viable option for consideration alongside all the other options also being taken forward within the Strategic Offshore Energy Development Strategy.”

At a private meeting in April 2023, councillors agreed that the final decision on whether or not to proceed with the masterplan projects would only be made after they had progressed to a “shovel ready” stage. This means having planning permission and maritime consents in place, as well as compelling business case.