ETZ Ltd is proud to partner with Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce and KPMG once again in support of the Energy Transition survey, the publication of the 38th edition coming as progress continues to be made on realising the significant opportunities presented to the North East of Scotland by the shift towards low carbon energy.

The most encouraging indicators from the latest findings are that the vast majority of respondents consider our region as being very important in terms of delivering domestic energy security.

And this is backed up by increasing levels of confidence in the Aberdeen region becoming a globally recognised renewable energy hub, leading on our national energy transition ambitions.

This is, of course, the central focus of ETZ Ltd; to reposition the region as a globally recognised energy cluster focussed on the delivery of net zero.

Our industry has every reason to be confident in this regard. As a result of the ScotWind and INTOG (Innovation & Targeted Oil & Gas) leasing rounds a massive 17GW of agreed floating wind projects will be cited within 100 nautical miles of Aberdeen accounting for 73% of all such projects in Scottish waters. Indeed, planned floating wind projects off Scotland’s coast currently make up almost a third of the global floating wind pipeline so, given our existing expertise in subsea engineering capability, this really is a sector where we can achieve genuine market leadership.

Furthermore, the decision of the UK Government since the last survey to support the Acorn CCUS project at St Fergus is hugely welcome and confirmation that the waters off the Buchan coast are one of the most cost-effective locations to advance CCUS in the UK given the capacity for CO2 storage in the North Sea and the existing oil and gas infrastructure available to repurpose for CO2 transportation and storage.

The awarding of an investment zone to the North East of Scotland is a further significant boost to our region and we are grateful to both the Scottish and UK Governments for recognising the need to support us as we continue to transform our regional economy.

And yet, despite these welcome interventions, the survey still shows industry confidence is tempered with by relatively high degree of uncertainty in terms of achieving a long term and stable environment for investment. At a geopolitical level, the war in Ukraine shows no sign of abating and the effects of the cost-of-living crisis continue to bite. Policymakers are grappling with the best solutions in the face of constant flux but the focus on energy security and supply continues to dominate.

However, across the North East of Scotland, our energy industry is rising to these challenges. No-one is labouring under the impression that these will be overcome overnight but the work currently underway across the sector to achieve an accelerated transition demonstrates the continued commitment of our world class energy supply chain to reaching this goal.

Our reputation as an innovative and productive region is both hard won and well deserved, and with continued resilience and optimism, we will secure our position as one of most attractive locations anywhere in the UK, and indeed across the world, for investment in low carbon technologies.

The scale of the task to reposition this region as the Net Zero Energy Capital of Europe is vast. However, in taking the temperature of the sector this biannual survey provides valuable insight into both the challenges and opportunities facing all of us.

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