By a Newsnet correspondent 19 May
SIR Ian Wood, one of the leading figures in the North Sea oil industry, has warned that Aberdeen is failing to build on its potential as a major centre for the new, offshore, renewables sector.
The chairman of the Wood Group told delegates on Wednesday, the opening day of the All Energy conference in Aberdeen, that the city had made a poor start in seizing the opportunities presented by the SNP government’s push to turn Scotland into the Saudi Arabia of wave, wind and tidal power.
Sir Ian stressed that Aberdeen’s expertise in oil and gas could be harnessed to benefit the development of renewable energy.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Read our Energy Analysis by George Kerevan
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
“Aberdeen must, over the next ten to 20 years, diversify from its heavy dependence on hydrocarbons to broader energy,” he argued. “The shorter-term opportunities are offshore wind and carbon capture and storage, and, in the longer term, the marine tide and wave solutions will become more economic.”
The Wood Group is already involved with the Beatrice Wind Farm Demonstrator Project in the Moray Firth.
The annual All-Energy conference in Aberdeen is the UK’s biggest convention for those involved in the energy business. Some 5,200 delegates turned up for Wednesday’s opening and over 10,000 are expected to attend. The conference opening included an up-beat video message from the First Minister, in which he pledged to move “still faster and further” to secure Scotland’s place as the green energy powerhouse of Europe.
