Trade unions have launched a campaign to save Fife’s mothballed BiFab yards amid fears they have missed out on another major contract.
Work to create jackets for 60 turbines off the Fife coast could have created up to 1,000 jobs in Methil and Burntisland.
The GMB and Unite say French energy firm EDF will, instead, award the £2 billion project to a company in Indonesia, a move the unions claim will kill the troubled Scottish yards.
The campaign, Fife Ready for Renewal, calls on EDF to end the uncertainty and confirm the work for the Neart na Goaith (NnG) wind farm, off the Isle of May, will be carried out locally.
The unions said manufacturing the jackets at the opposite side of the world, then shipping them to Fife, would create the same carbon emissions as 35 million cars.
GMB Scottish secretary Gary Smith said: “Fife is primed to help deliver the next generation of energy in the form of renewables manufacturing through its yards in Burntisland and Methil.
“So why is EDF sub-contracting the manufacture of NnG turbine jackets to a yard half way round the world in Indonesia?
“That’s a slap in the face for Fife and for Scotland.”
Unite spokesman Pat Rafferty added: “If the bulk of the wind turbine jackets are built in yards just 10 miles from the wind farm, it would mean less shipping and significantly less carbon emissions over the lifespan of the NnG project.
“We will fight for every job and fight to get people back to work because the skills base is here in Fife.”
Local SNP MSP David Torrance said EDF had a moral responsibility to the BiFab workforce given the wind farm will be located just a few miles from the Methil yard.
“I’m fully supportive of the campaign because BiFab is a major player in the economy I represent and it’s struggled for work over the last year,” he said.
Mr Torrance has requested a meeting with energy minister Paul Wheelhouse to see if there is any action the Scottish Government can take.
Audrey Egan, chairwoman of Methil Community Council, said the entire area would benefit from the contract.
“It’s not just the workforce who are affected. Local businesses felt the squeeze when there’s no work at the yards too,” she said.
“Hotels, B&Bs and shops all made a lot of revenue from the workforce and were looking forward to this new contract.”
EDF has refused to comment on the speculation.
A spokeswoman for the company said: “We are currently going through a procurement process and once the contracts are ready to be announced we will do so.”
Missing out on the EDF work would be the latest blow for BiFab, which failed to secure a multi-million contract for a windfarm in the Moray Firth in March.
The Scottish Government loaned the troubled company £15 million in November 2017, dragging BiFab back from the brink of administration, after workers marched through the centre of Edinburgh in a call for action.
Despite efforts to secure more work, 1,400 employees were made redundant the following February and the firm was bought over by Canadian company DF Barnes just over a year ago.
The yards have been run by a skeleton staff on a care and maintenance basis since then as the battle continued.
