PLANS for a giant marine energy park at the former Cockenzie Power Station have been scrapped.

Scottish Enterprise said today (Monday) it was no longer proceeding with its ambitious plans, saying the time was not right.

David Leven, head of energy infrastructure at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Since we started exploring the potential development at Cockenzie, detail around the scale, timing and location of offshore wind projects has changed and become clearer. “As a result, we believe that the time isn’t right to develop a marine energy park at Cockenzie, and that industry requirements could be met through other sites in Scotland.

“In addition, major inward investment projects require the strong support and backing of the local community in order to be successful.

“We are very aware that there were some concerns from areas of the local community about the scale of the project.

“Although we did consider continuing with our plans to consent the site and defer any form of investment until the offshore wind market was ready, we were conscious that this had the potential to prevent other investment proposals for the site being developed and brought forward.

“As a result, we believe that this isn’t the right time to develop an energy park at Cockenzie and consequently we won’t be proceeding with the consenting process for a marine energy park dedicated to renewable energy use.” The Courier first revealed Scottish Enterprise plans to build the giant industrial park at Cockenzie in May last year.

The marine energy park would have built and repaired wind turbines for the offshore windfarm industry and involved reclaiming over 11 hectares of land from the sea to create a deep water dock, building football stadium-sized factories and relocating the John Muir Way.