Firms in Caithness are making a transition from a reliance on work from Dounreay to new opportunities in renewable energy, say business leaders. Dounreay, an experimental nuclear power complex built in the 1950s, is in the process of being shutdown and the site cleaned up. However, companies set up because of the site such as JGC have been finding work on the MeyGen tidal energy scheme. The Beatrice Offshore Windfarm off Wick is also expected to create new jobs. Thurso engineering firm JGC works on contracts related to Dounreay, but has also been constructing large ballast blocks for tidal turbines for the MeyGen project. The tidal energy scheme in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, an area of the sea that separates the Scottish mainland and Orkney, will initially involve four turbines. Cables to bring ashore the electricity generated by the devices have already been laid.
BBC 2nd June 2016 read more »