A successful energy transition from hydrocarbons to renewables will lead to big opportunities for the North-east, an Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce breakfast will be told later this month.
Paul de Leeuw, director of Robert Gordon University's Energy Transition Institute, is to be one of the main speakers at the event at Aberdeen's Chester Hotel on Wednesday, May 25.
As well as talking about what a good energy transition could do for the region, Mr de Leeuw will also highlight what a less-successful outcome could mean in terms of the area's energy investment, activities and jobs.
Earlier this month, industry body Offshore Energies UK said that energy producers in British waters are expected to invest up to £250billion by 2030 to provide the nation with secure and increasingly low-carbon energy. Around 60% of the money will be spent building renewable and low-carbon energy infrastructure, such as offshore wind and systems for capturing CO2 for permanent disposal in deep rock formations.
The RGU offshore energy workforce transferability review published last May highlighted the prize of delivering the targets identified for offshore wind, oil and gas, hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage by 2030 for the UK offshore energy workforce.
The study also indicated that the number of people directly and indirectly employed in the UK offshore energy sector could rise by over 40,000 in the next few years and that over 200,000 people are likely to be required in 2030 to support activities in the UK offshore energy sector, including offshore wind, hydrogen, carbon capture, utilisation and storage activities and oil and gas. This compares to around 160,000 in 2021.
The review also found that more than 90% of the UK's oil and gas workforce had medium to high skills transferability and were well positioned to work in adjacent energy sectors.
Attendees at this month’s chamber breakfast will also hear the findings of the Energy Transition 35 survey, which looks at confidence, investment and transition in the energy sector. This study was done in partnership with KPMG UK and Energy Transition Zone Ltd.
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