By Renewable Energy Focus staff

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Scottish Enterprise, Doosan plans to locate its R&D centre at its current site at Westway in Renfrew, near Glasgow, creating up to 200 jobs.

In a second phase, the companies propose the establishment of assembly and manufacturing facilities for the offshore wind power industry.

In total, the plans could result in 1700 new jobs – 700 directly with Doosan and a further 1000 in the supply chain.

Jean-Michel Aubertin, CEO at Doosan Power Systems, says: “Together we hope to develop cutting-edge wind power technology that will enhance the role of renewables in the energy mix. This also is great news for Scotland’s economy in terms of jobs and inward investment. Doosan’s current wind power portfolio and position with the industry will continue to grow strongly over the coming years.”

Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, says: “Doosan Power Systems is one of the world’s leading energy technology and engineering companies and I’m delighted they have decided to locate their R&D centre in Renfrew, Scotland, to develop the next generation of offshore wind turbines. I’m also excited by the prospect of Doosan establishing a manufacturing facility in Scotland – [the] announcement by the company is an important step towards that and towards many hundreds more jobs that will be created beyond the 200 posts announced…”

Salmond has also said that Steel Engineering, also based at Westway, will create another 120 jobs through expanding its business to service the clean energy sector, including offshore wind, wave and tidal power.

“Taken together, [the] announcements could see the creation of up to 1800 more jobs in Scotland’s renewable and low-carbon energy industries – representing great news for Renfrew and for the wider Scottish economy,” he adds.