A report has claimed the downturn in the oil and gas industry could be having a wider impact on the Scottish economy. The Scottish Chambers of Commerce said the effect of lower oil prices could be extending beyond businesses operating directly in the sector. The latest quarterly report received responses from 477 firms in Scotland.
It’s hard to believe that four years ago, I stepped into the role here at Step Change in Safety. Like my New Year’s resolutions, my hopes and the reality didn’t always align. Since day one, there have been many successes and Step Change’s strategic priorities have evolved. But, sadly, there have been tragic and stark reminders of just how much is still to be done.
Unions are planning a protest next month outside a conference in Brussels to discuss the problems being faced by energy-intensive industries, including steel. Thousands of jobs have been axed in the UK in recent months as steel firms struggle with high energy prices and cheap Chinese imports.
Scotland’s economy grew by just 0.1% in the third quarter of last year, new figures have revealed. Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the latest GDP data showed output had increased between July and September despite the “significant challenge” to key export markets. Over the year, Scottish GDP increased by 1.7% - but its growth was weaker than that for the UK as a whole, where increases of 0.4% and 2.1% were recorded over three and 12 months respectively.
There is little doubt that the ongoing period of low global prices poses significant challenges for the oil and gas sector and our thoughts remain with the workers, such as those facing redundancy at BP, who have been affected.
Scotland should set a new “ambitious” target of generating half of its total electricity, heat and transport demand from renewables by 2030, according to campaigners. It would require a threefold increase in current green energy generation, Scottish Renewables said as it launched a “manifesto” for political parties to adopt ahead of May’s Holyrood election.
The Scottish economy slowed in the final quarter of 2015 with confidence in international markets and a drop in the oil industry constraining growth, according to economic researchers.
The Scottish Government has cut funding for fuel poverty by more than a 10th, according to Labour.
The developer behind plans to site huge turbines on a Moray landmark is making a fresh bid to win backing for its scheme.
Scottish Government Ministers have agreed a support package worth £195,000 to retain staff at two steel plants. The move will see a number of staff paid 60% of gross salary and advanced training to ensure the plants – Dalzell and Clydebridge – can reopen quickly.
Political parties in Scotland should commit to a national strategy to help businesses and consumers reduce and manage their demand for electricity, environmental and energy groups have said. WWF Scotland and Edinburgh-based company Flexitricity have stressed that implementing a concerted strategy regarding electricity consumption would mean Scotland could avoid the need to build expensive new fossil fuel power stations and more rapidly cut climate emissions. The groups also asserted that such a strategy must go beyond energy efficiency, and include measures to increasingly tap into the vast existing “invisible“ power network of industrial, commercial and public sector organisations.
Throughout the holiday season Energy Voice will be taking a look back at some of our most read columns from 2015. From oil and gas leaders, politicians and leading think-tanks here’s what the industry was talking about this year.
Electricity is being transmitted along the full length of the controversial Beauly to Denny power line for the first time. Joint developers Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHE Transmission) and SP Energy Networks said the 220km (136-mile) “power super-highway” is now fully operational at up to 400 kilovolts. The overhead line carries renewable energy generated in the Highlands to central Scotland and was given the go-ahead by Scottish Government ministers in January 2010.
The Orkney firm behind plans for the world’s biggest tidal turbine said yesterday it had secured a further £5.7million for the project. Kirkwall-based Scotrenewables Tidal Power (STP) said the massive two megawatt floating device, which is about 250ft long, was nearing completion at Harland and Wolff (H&W) shipyard in Belfast. It is due to be launched early next year before being towed to the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney for the start of grid-connected testing.
Donald Trump last night instructed his lawyers to take his fight against an offshore windfarm to the European Court of Justice. The Supreme Court in London – the highest court in the land – yesterday announced it had rejected the US businessman’s appeal against the Scottish Government’s approval of the 11-turbine project at Aberdeen Bay. Vattenfall and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), partners of Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm Ltd (AOWFL), welcomed the decision and reaffirmed their commitment to the project – with campaigners also hailing the victory for renewable energy.
Vattenfall last night vowed to press ahead with their £230million offshore wind project, and welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling. Andy Payne, project director for Vatenfall's Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm (AOWF), said the Swedish energy giant was looking at ways it will fund the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) - and that a decision will be made by mid-next year.
The Scottish Government has invited tenders for a research programme into the potential impacts of onshore unconventional oil and gas extraction.
A number of companies have applied for licences to exploit shale gas in Scotland, according to new data. The investigative journalism website, The Ferret, said a total of nine companies had applied to look at potential shale reserves.
EDF Energy said cracks have been discovered in bricks which make up the core of one of two nuclear reactors at the Hunterston power station in Scotland. The discovery was made at the site during planned maintenance in one of the reactors at its base in Ayrshire. The company has since said there will not be any safety implications as a result on the reactor.
The Scottish Government is preparing to abandon its moratorium on fracking after next year’s Holyrood election, Labour has claimed.
The Scottish Government will miss a key green energy target if proposed wind power projects fail to attract enough investment, renewables leaders have said. Industry body Scottish Renewables estimated that without further support for offshore and onshore wind farms, the country would generate the equivalent of 87% of electricity demand from environmentally friendly sources by 2020. That is short of the target set by ministers of providing the equivalent of 100% of demand from renewables by this date.
Rigs have been stacking up in the Cromarty Firth amid the continued decline in oil price.
Plans to build the world’s largest offshore windfarm off the north-east coast have been approved. Norwegian energy giant Statoil will erect five 600ft turbines tethered to the bed of the North Sea, 15 miles from Peterhead. The Scottish Government has today granted the firm a marine licence, allowing construction work on the huge structures to begin.
Failure to address Scotland’s relatively poor productivity could cost 11,000 jobs and £400 million in taxes by 2025, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned. Scotland has a long-standing gap in productivity - the measure of the amount of goods and services created - between the rest of the UK and is a long way behind European competitors, Ms Sturgeon said. She told business leaders Scotland faces “deep-seated challenges”, particularly in the oil and gas sector, in an address to a Business in Parliament conference at Holyrood.
An offshore worker has captured incredible images of wildlife in the North Sea.