The governments of the UK and Scotland have announced plans to build two green freeports in Inverness and Cromarty Firth as well as Firth of Forth.

With a funding commitment of up to £52m by the UK Government, the projects are expected to create around £10.8bn of private and public investment along with more than 75,000 new skilled jobs.

Bidding for the projects opened earlier this year, and consortiums submitted bids for a share of the cash. The winning bids were jointly revealed by the UK and Scottish Governments.

After a joint assessment mechanism, the governments chose Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport and Forth Green Freeport as the winning bids.

Each project will receive up to £26m in funding over the next few years, primarily to help address infrastructure gaps.

The Forth Green Freeport is estimated to attract investments of up to £6bn and aims to transition to net zero by 2045.

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It will focus on storage and shipbuilding, renewables manufacturing, alternative fuels, and carbon capture utilisation. The freeport is expected to create 50,000 jobs.

The Forth site includes the ports at Grangemouth, Rosyth and Leith, as well as Edinburgh Airport and a site at Burntisland.

Meanwhile, the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport is expected to generate around £4.8bn for the region.

The project will concentrate on floating offshore wind, nuclear and hydrogen, which will drive a transition to net zero by 2045.

It will include the Ports of Inverness, Cromarty Firth and Nigg, along with the Inverness Airport site.

Additionally, an expansion of the Inverness Campus and Powerhouse is being planned, with proposals to deliver innovation and skills support.

The green freeport projects are expected to become operational in late 2023.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Working together delivers results – and I am absolutely delighted that the First Minister and I can announce the delivery of our shared ambition for people in Scotland today with not one but two excellent Green Freeport areas.

“In extending the benefits of freeports to Scotland, we are unleashing the potential of the Firth of Forth and Inverness and Cromarty Firth – backing the delivery of thousands of high-quality green jobs for future generations, as we continue to make gains on our commitments to transition to net zero.”