Politics: Offshore Europe provides opportunities to progress industry projects

No question about it: the north-east is still an energy powerhouse and is only getting stronger.

This is the resounding message from the 50th Offshore Europe conference I attended recently.

Having started as a conference purely for the oil and gas sector, it has now expanded exponentially to include the immense and exciting diversity of energy and infrastructure projects.

Importantly, there was real honesty about and engagement with the need to embrace the Just Transition.

At the conference, I was pleased to meet with not only organisations based in Banffshire and Buchan Coast, but also companies that may invest in the area.

With the abundance of potential, it is easy to see why the interest is there.

It was great to attend the conference along with Aberdeenshire councillors and representatives from Fraserburgh Harbour, and I am grateful for the constructive conversations we had about promoting the area as an excellent place to do business.

I also spent time with the National Decommissioning Centre, which plays a vital role in helping the energy sector to reduce costs and emissions and to improve environmental outcomes.

Its research plays a pivotal part in helping businesses plan their journeys to net zero.

You will hear me speak about the success of onshore and offshore wind power, and the conference hammered that message home. Together they make up 53 per cent and 39 per cent of the region’s energy capacity respectively.

This goes a huge way to make up the 2GW of total renewable energy generated in the north-east.

For context, that is over 1/6th of the renewable electricity generation capacity in the whole of Scotland.

While, years ago, many might have turned their noses up at having turbines in the north-east – including one Donald J. Trump – the economic and environmental benefits mean communities here are widely supportive these days.

Onshore wind farms in the region are committed to giving real benefit to locals, too, having given nearly £2 million of community benefit funding money in recent years.

There’s more good news for the future. A recent report, developed by the north-east-based Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) with funding from the Scottish Government, outlined how Scotland has the potential to greatly expedite its hydrogen production and export capabilities through the creation of a dedicated marine pipeline.

The NZTC's "Hydrogen Backbone Link" project looks at what hydrogen transportation infrastructure is needed to establish a cost-effective pipeline solution.

This move would position Scotland as a frontrunner in the development of a pan-European hydrogen infrastructure for export and see more energy infrastructure in the North Sea.

Excitingly, a new pipeline has the potential to enable Scotland to meet nearly 10 per cent of Europe's projected hydrogen import demand by the mid-2030s, bringing huge economic benefit and strengthening our links to Europe.

I look forward to seeing this plan develop.

Indeed, here in the north-east, we have a huge and exciting part to play in Scotland's net zero ambitions, and I will continue to stand up for the infrastructure initiatives across Banffshire and Buchan Coast that are driving forward Scotland's climate targets.