August 31 2021

Land at the former Hunterston port in North Ayrshire has been identified for a high voltage cable production facility dominated by a 180m extrusion tower.

McInally Associates on behalf of XLCC have filed a proposal of application notice for the brownfield coal yards site which would play host to a mix of factories, laboratories and offices dedicated to the production of electrical infrastructure.

There are currently just five such plants operating in Europe, none in the UK, contributing to lengthy delays in sourcing cabling for renewable energy projects. This situation has led XLCC to identify Hunterston as a suitable location owing to its deep water access and bulk cargo handling capacity, vital to spool cabling onto deployment vessels.

In a statement, the applicant wrote: "XLCC will establish a new, export-led, green industry in the UK; world-class high voltage subsea cable manufacturing."

Consultations will continue through to 10 September ahead of a formal planning application.

5 Comments

#1 Posted by modernish on 1 Sep 2021 at 09:30 AM

Don't be daft. The tower is the same height as the Gerkin or the NatWest tower (Tower 42 for you young ones). They'd be better to spend the money figuring out a way to tension the cables to allow the cable to be insulated when it's horizontal.
Just for a wee bit of perspective the science centre tower is only 126m tall.
Ridiculous!

#2 Posted by Gandalf the Pink on 1 Sep 2021 at 10:22 AM

180m may seem tall, however its similar scale to the wind turbines which stood on Hunterston dock and were removed two years ago.

The turbines were 194m and 177m tall at the tip.

#3 Posted by Steppish on 1 Sep 2021 at 12:10 PM

aye and the local tory nimby councilor from fairlie never shut about those turbines cause he could see them peeking over the hills

anyway, hope this goes ahead. manufacturing jobs in a growth industry is just what north ayrshire needs

#4 Posted by modernish on 1 Sep 2021 at 13:50 PM

The plant in Turkey (Vatan Kablo) which makes the same types of insulated cables has a 72m tall tower and a sloping section. Just like Hunterston that site is also huge and can accommodate the floor space required.

#5 Posted by Cateran on 2 Sep 2021 at 13:51 PM

I do hope it doesn't go the same way as Windtowers at Machrihanish. We're still building wind farms at the rate the Chinese build coal-fired power stations but all the kit is imported. (And most of the developers are foreign as well.)

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