Jobs boost as Arcola Energy sets up at former tyre factory

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Up to 135 jobs could be created in Scotland following Arcola Energy’s decision to locate its main manufacturing base on the site of a former Michelin tyre factory.

Arcola
(Image: Arcola Energy)

Aided by a £1.5m grant from Scottish Enterprise, the fuel cell technology integrators will be one of the first tenants at the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP), a joint venture between Dundee City Council, Michelin and Scottish Enterprise that aims to be a world-leading sustainable transport hub.

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The Regional Selective Assistance grant will allow the company to progress plans to create a new engineering and manufacturing facility at MSIP. The first phase will bring in around 20 employees to support the Scottish hydrogen train project and product development for hydrogen-powered vehicles, with the remainder being recruited over the next three years as Arcola expands production at the site. Arcola also has a rail engineering facility at the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway and plans for a service centre in Glasgow.

In a statement, Arcola CEO Dr Ben Todd said: “We were attracted by MSIP’s ambition to become a leading hub supporting the decarbonisation of Scotland’s transport system and infrastructure, and in particular by the hydrogen production and fuelling facility that MSIP is building to support development and deployment of zero-emission vehicles. We are very pleased to be an early part of it."

The company’s new Dundee facility supports efforts to introduce hydrogen-powered solutions to heavy-duty vehicles and transport applications and strengthens wider ambitions for Scotland to become a net zero carbon emissions economy.

“The Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc vision is to be a world class centre of sustainable mobility and low carbon energy,” said economy secretary Fiona Hyslop MSP. “We want Scotland to lead the way in developing and manufacturing the technologies of the future and MSIP will be vital in helping us achieve this. This announcement is another positive step forward for MSIP and Dundee as a hub for the green jobs that will be vital to our post-pandemic recovery.”