VIEWPOINT: Targets and transition must make a difference to communities in north
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Local renewables development on the Cromarty Firth, just transition plans in Scotland and record worldwide offshore wind investment forecast by 2030 could far outstrip projected oil and gas spend.
The confident picture that is emerging from companies at local and multinational scale has to be matched by ambitious national plans that harness our skills, expertise and location to embed long-term gains for local populations in the north and around Scotland as a whole.
First though, with the election of the new tranche of MSPs there will be a change of energy minister. Many people have paid tribute to Paul Wheelhouse who failed to be re-elected on the South of Scotland list due to the vagaries of the system.
Paul gave a Highland-wide seminar in January. Energy North readers will welcome many of his thoughts be they listeners, consumers or producers. For local community energy projects the axing of Feed-in Tariffs (FiT) by the UK government severely constrained new projects. 760MW have been developed exceeding the earlier target of 500MW.
The new Scottish target is 2GW by 2030, but FiT ended in UK so a Scottish equivalent will be needed.
Ambitions by the Scottish Government for a hydrogen economy have included a statement last December and a Hydrogen Action Plan to be adopted later this year. The Scottish target is 5GW. The UK target is the same.
So-called ‘blue’ hydrogen produced from methane needs carbon capture and storage to which the stop-go UK policies impeded. A current ‘go’ phase may be suitable at St Fergus gas plant in Aberdeenshire, Sullum Voe in Shetland and Flotta in Orkney.
Much more interesting for Energy North readers is the ‘green’ hydrogen plan with potential in the Cromarty Firth for this new clean fuel of the future. One indication of its use is the plan to design and build 300 homes in Fife to be heated by hydrogen rather than natural gas.
From a consumer point of view, Paul Wheelhouse noted that building regulations for new homes will not allow natural gas power after 2024. And, Scotland is well ahead of rUK for charging point infrastructure for electric cars. Many more are planned.
Tackling fuel poverty by investing community benefit from large commercial wind farms needs revised. The £5000 per MW produced must be enforced and greatly increased. Getting reliable advice on clean power installed also requires overhaul.
The minister was keen to show the local opportunities for sustainable jobs and of exporting green hydrogen to neighbouring countries, of which he cited Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany as they move to decarbonise very coal and gas-reliant industries. A potential of 94 WH/year export is possible within five years.
What emerged from this seminar is a very positive opportunity for clean power development in various areas of the Highlands and Northern Isles. Mr Wheelhouse passes on to his successor minister a well respected and carefully crafted portfolio.
As mentioned above, global investment in offshore wind development grows exponentially. Worldwide projects have tripled to 33GW since 2016 and may reach 250GW by 2030.
Global Energy Group (GEG) has recently announced that its fabrication and training base at Nigg is expecting to create a manufacturing cluster there worth £100 million in the next few years. Factories producing related supply chain products for the offshore wind market would include electrical equipment and cables.
One hundred and fifty jobs could be created on site with another 300 in the supply chain.
Current staging and assembly of offshore wind tower jackets has been described by GEG CEO Roy MacGregor as transient work. His aim is to make worthwhile long-lasting employment in the area which needs to rebuild a manufacturing base, that was lost decades ago with the demise of the aluminium smelter and oil rig jacket fabrication.
This begs the question about government support for this exciting next phase for Nigg. Since GEG acquired the yard in 2011 around £17 million has been provided by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Far larger sums will be needed from the public purse very soon. But, this requires energy and taxation powers for the Scottish Government which it is denied under devolution.
Mr MacGregor highlighted his commitment to the area by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Scottish Power to identify processes and plant that could be powered by green hydrogen.
This neatly dovetails with Port of Cromarty Firth (PoCF) plans for a green hydrogen plant on its land nearby. A parliamentary answer last September revealed that PoCF has claimed intervention cash from the European Regional Development Fund (decided in Scotland) and HIE.
A total of £5.6 million of public and EU cash has backed Invergordon to date.
During the recent election campaign, the Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and local SNP candidate Maree Todd met with Mr MacGregor at Nigg. I hope that the Board of PoCF and GEG can agree with them and with Paul Wheelhouse whose role will be to cheer on the Scottish Parliament in future from outside.
The Scottish Government’s mission is to deliver the recovery and a route to being a better, fairer and more prosperous nation. Mr Wheelhouse tweeted he agrees and believes Scotland will be when we secure independence. Certainly a clear majority hereabouts voted on May 6 for such a positive future.
robgibson273@btinternet.com
