SSE has selected Montrose Port as its preferred operations and maintenance base for the planned 1.4GW Berwick Bank B offshore wind farm, creating a potential long-term employment hub on Scotland’s Angus coast.
The company expects the base to support 100 full-time jobs, including technicians and engineers responsible for daily operations during the wind farm’s planned life of more than 35 years.
Around 30 construction roles are also expected during redevelopment of Montrose Port Authority’s existing offices at South Harbour, which would be repurposed for the operations centre.
The decision extends SSE’s existing relationship with Montrose, which already serves as an operations base for the Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm. If the remaining phases of the wider Berwick Bank development ultimately proceed, SSE says the number of operational jobs associated with the project at Montrose could rise to almost 300.
Berwick Bank B is planned around 38 kilometres off Scotland’s east coast and forms part of a wider development with potential capacity of 4.1GW. The B phase secured a 20-year Contract for Difference covering 1.4GW in the UK Government’s seventh allocation round in January.
SSE is progressing that phase towards a final investment decision expected in 2027. The contract provides long-term revenue support for generated electricity, but construction has not yet received final investment approval.
That distinction remains important for suppliers and local employers. Selection of an operations base and a CfD award reduce development uncertainty, but major commitments to turbines, foundations, cables, vessels, and construction still depend on the project meeting its financial and delivery requirements.
For Montrose, an operations and maintenance base offers a different economic profile from temporary construction activity. Offshore wind farms require technicians, engineers, vessel crews, logistics, warehousing, and specialist services for decades after commissioning.
Ports capable of supporting several projects can build a more durable commercial cluster around those requirements. Montrose already has an offshore-wind role through Seagreen, and the addition of Berwick Bank B would expand the scale of recurring operations activity at the harbour.
That clustering can make investment in skills and infrastructure easier to justify. Training providers have a larger employment base to serve, suppliers can work across multiple projects, and port assets are less dependent on the construction cycle of a single wind farm.
UK offshore wind is progressively moving from a development market into a large operating industry. As installed capacity rises, operations and maintenance represent an increasing share of employment and supply-chain demand even while new projects continue to be built.
The sector still faces constraints in vessels, ports, turbines, foundations, cables, grid infrastructure, and specialist labour. International demand for many of those resources has increased at the same time as the UK seeks to accelerate renewable generation.
Long-term revenue contracts address only part of that challenge. A CfD provides greater certainty over electricity revenues, but developers remain exposed to construction costs, financing, equipment availability, grid connections, and project execution.
The 100 proposed Montrose roles therefore depend on Berwick Bank B progressing through its final investment decision. If that happens, the jobs would last far beyond the construction period and become part of the operating infrastructure supporting the wind farm throughout its life.
The wider 4.1GW Berwick Bank development offers greater potential but also contains additional commercial dependencies. SSE says total Montrose employment could approach 300 if the other phases secure support in future CfD rounds and reach their own investment decisions.
If built in full, SSE estimates Berwick Bank could generate electricity equivalent to more than 6% of current UK demand. The scale explains why decisions about ports and operating bases have consequences beyond the wind farm itself.
Montrose Port must now prepare the South Harbour facilities while SSE advances the project towards its 2027 decision. The selection does not guarantee construction, but it gives the port a further opportunity to deepen an offshore-energy cluster built around long-term operating activity rather than one-off installation work.
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