New £150m Hunterston port development plans given go-ahead

Lewis McIntyre, managing director of port services at Peel Ports Group, said the site would become a “major facilitator” of the UK’s transition to sustainable energy.

“There will be no energy transition without ports, and harnessing the potential of sites like Hunterston is key to achieving the UK’s net-zero goals,” he said.

“The knock-on benefits for the local and national economies are also significant. We look forward to working with the policymaking community to create the investment conditions we need to replicate the success of Hunterston at other sites across the country.”

The Hunterston terminal, which sits south of Fairlie opposite the island of Great Cumbrae, was once one of Scotland’s most important industrial sites.

It was opened in 1979, creating a deep-water port to allow iron ore for the Ravencraig steelworks to come into the country.

After the closure of Ravenscraig in 1992, it was used to import coal for the Longannet and Cockenzie power stations in Fife and East Lothian.

That business came to an end in 2016 with the closure of Longannet.

The owners began clearing the site in 2019.