SSE has finalized the deal to sell 80% of its stake in Wind Towers Scotland (WTS) plant to South Korea-based CS Wind.

CS Wind plans to start manufacturing towers for the offshore wind market at the factory, which is situated in Machrihanishis, on the west coast of Scotland.

The south Korean firm aims to invest up to £14m in the business and create up to 70 jobs, apart from the existing 134.

SSE claims that the investment will result in the first factory in the UK to commercially produce offshore wind towers.

Established in 2011 by SSE and HIE, WTS provides repair and maintenance services to the wind power industry.

SSE director of procurement Sandy Biggar said: "SSE has been a committed custodian of the Wind Towers factory for over five years and we’ve worked hard to help the business keep going in a challenging economy and become a success for rural Argyll.

"Although turbine tower manufacturing is not a core area of business for us as an energy company, we were nevertheless determined to demonstrate our strong support for home-grown Scottish wind farm manufacturing by seeking out an ownership stake in the Machrihanish factory.

WTS managing director Grant McPherson said: "Machrihanish is an ideal location for wind tower manufacturing with an excellent reputation and highly skilled workforce.

"The team at Wind Towers is completely supportive of this development and already looking forward to the opportunities to come as CS Wind has stated it has big plans to build on the current success of the factory."