Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney visited Montrose Port on the campaign trail yesterday, where he toured the port’s facilities, received an overview of business operations and learned how the thriving business is helping to deliver Scotland’s energy transition. 

Montrose Port Authority is one of the major businesses in Angus, a vital chain and anchor port for oil and gas, and is now home to operations for Scotland’s largest wind farm, Seagreen. 

As the chosen location for the Inch Cape wind farm in the years ahead, Montrose is set to become one of the biggest Operations & Maintenance hubs for offshore wind anywhere in the world — with some 2.5GW of capacity being operated from the port.

New work in energy saw Montrose Port Authority grow its revenue by 34% last year. As a trust port, all profits are reinvested into improving the port’s facilities or to benefit the wider community.

Montrose has recently become the first Scottish port to offer shore power to offshore energy vessels with its £1 million ‘Plug Montrose’ project, which will significantly reduce emissions associated with day-to-day operations. 

To support a bright future for the local economy, the port has recently begun phase one work on a £2.5 million transformation of Montrose’s historic Customs House building to provide community and training space.

Commenting, Montrose Port Authority CEO Captain Tom Hutchison said: “We were delighted to welcome the First Minister to Montrose today. 

“As a trust port at the forefront of the energy transition, we’re a great example of a business which has thrived on oil and gas for decades but must turn our collective attention to the challenges of tomorrow. 

“We’re already proud to be home to the O&M base for Seagreen — Scotland’s largest operational offshore wind farm, with future projects looking to Montrose for the first-class support we offer to customers. 

“We’ve got a great supply chain community anchored here and around the port and we want to work with all parties at all levels of government to drive our transition to net zero. 

“Montrose should be seen as a major strategic North Sea energy port and significant investment is needed to ensure that the economic benefits of offshore wind are realised here in Scotland and support jobs and growth for many years to come.”