Energy revolution must go hand in hand with skills and supply chain evolution

Speaking at the virtual UK Conservative Party Conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made an ambitious pledge £160mn of funding to upgrade ports and infrastructure in critical energy communities, including Teesside and Humber, Scotland and Wales. His speech followed a statement the previous week that he wanted the UK to be the ‘Saudi Arabia of wind power’, as he promised to make a ‘big bet’ on CCS, hydrogen and wind power in a bid to ‘build back greener’ from the COVID-19 crisis. 

Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) welcomed the news ‘as a positive shot to the arm’ for the oil and gas sector’s struggling supply chain, adding that developing skills and supply chain capabilities will be critical if the UK is to reach its climate ambitions. In early 2020, around 75% of OGUK member companies reported at least some of their revenue is generated from non-oil and gas related work, with 30% noting that more than 25% comes from diversified activity.  

Electricity demand currently accounts for 17% of total energy demand, meaning the decarbonisation of transport, industrial needs and heating remains critical if the UK is to meet its climate change targets.

OGUK also reinforced the importance of the North Sea Transition Deal to deliver the low carbon solutions needed to drive a true green industrial revolution.

Andy Samuel, Chief Executive of the UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) said: ‘This is welcome news, consistent with the clear picture we see of the future of the UK Continental Shelf as an energy basin, where integration between different energy sources and skills is mutually beneficial. Our recent UKCS energy integration report showed that offshore energy and integration projects such as wind, platform electrification, CCS and hydrogen can contribute up to 60% of the emission reductions required for the whole of the UK to reach net zero. This announcement is a clear step towards achieving that.’