The consultation, which will run until the end of April, aims to place the North Sea – its communities, workers, businesses and supply chains – at the core of Britain’s clean energy agenda. It is expected to stimulate private investment into technologies that will create new jobs for North Sea workers, support local communities, reduce carbon emissions and help ensure the UK’s energy security, says the government.

It wants the North Sea to become a ‘world-leading example of an offshore clean energy industry’. The consultation emphasises the importance of maintaining existing oil and gas fields and continuing domestic production, which will ‘continue to play an important role for decades to come’. Simultaneously, it aims to boost the economy through the expansion of clean technologies, including hydrogen, carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), and offshore wind.

The consultation also includes delivering the government’s commitment not to issue new licences to explore new oil and gas fields in the UK, to keep global warming to 1.5°C. It also engages with the oil and gas industry on managing existing fields, ensuring they continue to contribute during the clean energy transition for their entire lifespan.

In a related development, the government has granted £55.7mn of funding to the Port of Cromarty Firth, Scotland, to make it a major hub for the UK’ s offshore wind industry. It expects the initial backing via the Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS) will pave the way for the port to ‘secure match-funding from other investors’. Once operational in 2028, the expanded Cromarty facilities will make it the first port able to make floating offshore wind turbines on site and at scale in the UK.  

Separately, the government has confirmed the Energy Profits Levy will end in 2030. It is consulting on a new regime to respond to future shocks in oil and gas prices that will ‘protect jobs in existing and future industries while delivering a fair return for the nation’. It says the new regime will provide the oil and gas industry with ‘long-term certainty on the future fiscal landscape’.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: ‘Diversifying the North Sea industries while domestic production is managed for decades to come is key to protecting jobs and investment in the long-term. Today’s consultation explores how to harness the North Sea’s existing infrastructure, natural assets and world-leading expertise to deploy new technologies – like hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and renewables – to create skilled jobs, meet the UK’s climate obligations, and make the UK a clean energy superpower.’

The government cited a study by Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University (RGU) which estimates that the offshore renewables workforce, including offshore wind, CCUS and hydrogen, could grow to between 70,000 and 138,000 by 2030. The study also found that over 90% of the UK’s oil and gas workforce have medium to high skills transferability, positioning them well to work in adjacent energy sectors. To support this transition, a new energy ‘skills passport’ has been launched, led by RenewableUK and Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), and backed by the UK and Scottish governments. This tool will initially help workers transition into careers in offshore wind, with plans to expand to other renewable roles later this year.

The government also forecast that an operational carbon capture industry alone could add around £5bn/y in gross value to the UK economy by 2050.

Meanwhile, the government reported that new proposals could see changes to the role of the North Sea Transition Authority, as the regulator of UK oil and gas, offshore hydrogen and carbon storage industries. The aim is to ensure the authority has the regulatory framework needed to support the government’s vision for the North Sea’s long-term future and ‘enable an orderly and prosperous transition to clean energy’.

Industry reactions

Commenting on the government consultation, Dhara Vyas, CEO of Energy UK, emphasised the importance of providing pathways for offshore workers to transition to low-carbon industries of the future. She said: ‘The clean energy mission can help ensure the North Sea’s best days are ahead of it, powering economic growth and enabling the UK to lead the way in the global clean industrial revolution.’

Sue Ferns, Senior Deputy General Secretary of the trade union Prospect, echoed this sentiment, calling for ‘new good, unionised jobs in clean energy [to be] at the heart of the government’s agenda’ as the UK moves away from new oil and gas production to meet its net zero commitment. She added: ‘Delivering meaningful numbers of new jobs will also require bringing supply chains for the renewables sector on shore, something that will need the government’s Industrial Strategy to run in lock step with this plan.’

Meanwhile, David Whitehouse, Chief Executive of OEUK, welcomed the consultations on the North Sea’s role in the energy transition and the taxation regime for unusually high oil and gas prices, saying they would provide ‘certainty to investors and create a stable investment environment for years to come’.

Also recognising ‘the growth opportunities of the clean energy transition alongside the risks associated with investments incompatible with the 1.5°C target’, Rachel Solomon Williams, Executive Director of the Aldersgate Group (an alliance of leaders from business, politics and society that is driving action for a sustainable economy) said: ‘Investing in assets that risk becoming stranded is unsustainable for both the UK economy and the environment. The government’s recognition of this position will contribute to resolving uncertainty and building private sector confidence for clean energy investments.’