Edinburgh's Firth of Forth bid reported to have won race to become one of Scotland's new Green Freeports

Forth Ports’ bid for one of Scotland’s two new Green Freeports to be centred on Leith is reported to have been approved, opening the door to a massive jobs boost.

Confirmation of the decision is expected by Friday. There were five bids under consideration. But, according to the Press and Journal and The Courier, sources said the two successful proposals were the Forth Ports’ Firth of Forth bid, which covers Leith, Rosyth, Grangemouth and Edinburgh Airport, and the Cromarty Firth bid in the Highlands.

Green Freeports are a joint initiative by the UK and Scottish governments, offering businesses big tax and customs incentives in return for their investment, but also requiring them to meet agreed environmental and employment standards. The Forth Ports bid claimed it could generate 50,000 new green jobs and unlock £6 billion of investment as part of its aim to "re-industrialise" Scotland by acting as a catalyst for new green technologies and renewable energy manufacturing.

News of where the new Green Freeports would be has been long-awaited. An announcement was originally expected last summer, but was delayed after Boris Johnson resigned as prime minister, quickly followed by his successor Liz Truss. Scottish Secretary Alister Jack revealed some time ago that the decision on the winners had been made, but was being kept under wraps. It was then expected an announcement would come before Christmas, but nothing happened. The other bids, understood to have been unsuccessful, were a Clyde proposal including Glasgow; another for the north-east including Aberdeen and Peterhead; and one from Orkney.

Criteria were said to include high-quality employment, plans to attract companies, a move towards net-zero emissions by 2045 and how quickly the sites could be up and running. The Forth bid was led by Forth Ports, but backed by a consortium of private and public organisations which included Babcock, Edinburgh Airport, Ineos, Scarborough Muir Group, and Edinburgh, Fife and Falkirk councils.

It includes plans for the redevelopment of Leith’s current port structure into the Leith Renewables Hub, an offshore wind manufacturing and marshalling site, supported by a cluster of offshore wind companies and a start-up incubator. At Grangemouth, there are proposals to transform the port into a major logistics, manufacturing, renewable energy hub and R&D centre for the Scottish and UK economies. And Rosyth is envisaged as becoming a hub for innovation in advanced modular manufacturing in offshore wind, shipbuilding and energy systems.

Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs, an enthusiastic backer of the Forth bid, said: “If these reports are true, I’m very pleased that what was an overwhelmingly positive bid is hopefully going to go forward. It was one of the strongest bids and the potential to drive economic growth and jobs across Lothian, central Scotland, Fife and beyond is something I hoped we would see. I now look forward to seeing how we can realise the potential as quickiy as possible and I congratulate all those involved in the bid for the hard work they have put into it.”