Port of Cromarty Firth in Invergordon has signed a Letter of Intent with Ideol, a global leader in floating foundations for offshore wind that is based in the south of France.

The agreement could lead to the creation of 500 new Scottish construction jobs.

The agreement would see the French-headquartered company and its partners use the Port’s land and Firth berthing sites and cooperating towards further developing the facilities and infrastructure to establish a concrete hull serial manufacturing yard for incoming floating wind tenders.

Ideol has teamed up with Elicio, a leading offshore wind farm developer and operator in the Belgian North Sea, and BayWa r.e. a leading global renewable energy business with a strong historical presence in Scotland, to submit proposals for the ScotWind tender launched by Crown Estate Scotland under the “Floating Energy Allyance” consortium name.

Port of Cromarty Firth CEO Bob Buskie said: “This partnership shows the vital manufacturing role the Port can play in the rapid expansion in renewable projects off Scotland’s shores.

“We have some of the best marine resources in the world and are in close proximity to around 14 of the 15 areas identified in the Crown Estate Scotland’s marine plan for offshore wind development.

“This agreement is a significant boost to the long-term future of the Port, Invergordon and the Highlands, as it looks to capitalise on the transformation of the energy market from oil and gas to renewables.”

Ideol CEO Paul de la Guérivière said: “This agreement is testament to our vision to build our floaters as close as possible to the offshore installation sites and in close collaboration with the local communities.

“We have demonstrated such high local content track record in France and Japan and do not see any reason why we could not reiterate such success stories in Scotland.”