A planning application has been submitted for the potential re-opening one of the Highland's largest oil rig fabrications.

The submission is for a 340-acre site and is situated 15 miles east of Inverness.

The site at Ardersier is currently being prepared for construction linked to the offshore wind industry.

The proposed site is the former McDermott Yard which opened in the early 1970s for the fabrication and construction of offshore platforms for use in the newly-established North Sea gas and oil industry. It closed in 2001 as demand fell, however, the latest plans emerge after another Highland year – at Nigg in Easter Ross – was taken over by Global Energy Group in 2011.

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It has since been using the site for refitting oil and gas rigs and servicing the renewable energy sector.

Speaking about the plans, the Port of Ardersier company said approval of the scheme could be followed by dredging works later this year, therefore allowing it to open for business by 2014. If the Highland Council, Marine Scotland and Transport Scotland approve the plans, the company added that it could become a manufacturing 'super-hub' for offshore wind.

Chief Executive Captain Stephen Gobbi said: "There are few other locations in the UK, or indeed Europe, which can offer this quality and quantity of vacant land, a 1,000-metre deep water quay and proximity to the major offshore wind development zones in the North Sea.

"Ardersier complements other sites in Scotland and offers offshore wind developers and manufacturers the opportunity to site their operations close to the first-generation deep water sites in the firths of Moray, Tay and Forth."

Earlier this year, Highland councillors supported proposals to build the world's largest offshore wind farm in the Outer Moray Firth. Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd wants to construct up to 339 turbines across three offshore wind farms located 22km (13.5 miles) from the Caithness coast.

(JP/CD)