It was announced yesterday that Global Energy Group is the preferred bidder for the Nigg yard in Easter Ross, which is being earmarked as a major energy sector hub. Efforts to reopen the yard, which once employed more than 5,000 people, have been thwarted for years by a wrangle over complex ownership issues and land-lease conditions. Two-thirds of the 238-acre yard is owned by KBR, a US engineering and construction company, which also has a 30-year lease with the Wakelyn Trust, which owns 76 acres. KBR recently pulled out of a potential 150 million plan to develop Nigg as a manufacturing base for the offshore renewables industry. It is envisaged that Global will take over the yard by April after buying out KBR and securing a 60-year lease with the Wakelyn Trust. It will then start a major redevelopment of a key site in the Scottish Government's national renewable infrastructure plan.