© Supplied by GMB Trade union GMB Scotland has struck a deal with subsea cable company XLCC to help deliver 1,200 jobs at the group’s planned facility in Ayrshire.
The voluntary recognition agreement (VRA) between them details how they will work together to campaign for the development while building their industrial relations.
The agreement is intended to pave the way to a full recognition agreement with collective bargaining as the workforce grows.
XLCC is developing a £1.4 billion factory to create high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) cables at Hunterston, Ayrshire. It will be based at the disused Peel Ports coal yard near the Hunterston B nuclear power plant.
The facility will help support the UK’s energy transition, providing the cables needed to bring electricity generated by offshore wind farms to shore and transmit it throughout the country.
GMB Scotland secretary Louise Gilmour said: “Too many workers believe the transition to renewables is being done to them, not with them.
© Supplied by XLCC“That must change, and this agreement shows how. The voice of workers must shape industrial strategy and energy policies if our country is ever to turn talk into jobs.
“Only genuine and effective cooperation between industry, unions, and governments can help deliver the transformation needed in our manufacturing supply chains.”
GMB urged UK and Scottish ministers to help accelerate the development.
The union said the UK government’s promise to create 650,000 new high-quality jobs will rest on harnessing the combined strength of industry and workers, and urged governments on both sides of the border to support the proposed cable plant at Hunterston.
“We share the ambition of XLCC to create good, unionised jobs in Ayrshire and hope innovative agreements like this can be a template to help secure a new industrial future,” Gilmour added.
Cable plans
XLCC chief executive Ian Douglas said: “This agreement is a significant step forward as we work to establish a new UK-based supply chain for HVDC subsea cable manufacturing.
“Our investment at Hunterston will create up to 1,200 skilled jobs and place Ayrshire at the heart of the UK’s energy transition. This is a truly transformative opportunity for community and country.”
XLCC has previously won two separate investments of £20 million, one from the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) and one from the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB), plus £9m from Scottish Enterprise.
One of XLCC’s anchoring orders is to supply Xlinks with one of the longest subsea cables in the world, which would have linked a 3.6GW solar farm in Morocco and the Alverdiscott substation in North Devon.
© Supplied by XlinksHowever, the UK government rejected Xlinks’ contract for difference (CfD) application for the Morocco-UK power project last month on the basis that it was not in the “UK national interest at this time to continue further consideration of support” for the project.
An XLCC statement said that the government’s decision would not affect XLCC.
“The global HVDC supply chain is under significant strain, with a current wait time of 5-7 years for new cable and demand projected to outpace supply by 2030.
“UK plans to increase offshore wind capacity from 15GW today to 45GW by 2040 will require an estimated 28,000km of HVDC cable between 2030 and 2040. XLCC is in a strong position to help meet this growing demand,” it read.
The firm estimates that demand for high-voltage subsea cables will be two and a half times greater than the available supply by 2030.
It added that the coming months will see it focus on securing the investment needed for the facility.
Xlinks also said that it could reroute the project to connect with another country in Europe, with Germany mentioned as a possible destination.
