Nathan Goode: High investment will reap rewards in job total

The agreement to give Holyrood access to half the Scottish fossil fuel levy fund also demonstrates that the UK and Scottish governments are collaborating constructively to deliver investment in the renewable energy sector.

Just as importantly, this announcement will go some way to rebuilding trust after the recent amendments to solar panel feed-in tariffs and reports calling into question the viability of Scotland’s renewables targets have unsettled many in the sector.

While the extra money underscores the Scottish Government’s commitment to achieving its goals, the key challenge now is to spend the money in a way that achieves measurable progress towards commercialisation.

It is well understood that renewable energy requires a long-term approach and high levels of investment.

But the prize is also worth playing for – potentially 40,000 jobs.

So far, Scotland has been able to boast significant success in terms of inward investment with the likes of Doosan and Gamesa establishing research bases in Renfrew and Glasgow.

The next strategic priority is to build an indigenous sector in such a way as to protect it against any future boom and bust.

A key element is to increase investment into supply chain, infrastructure and knowledge transfer. The National Renewables Infrastructure Fund (N-RIF) – established with £70m to support the development of port and near-port manufacturing locations for offshore wind turbines and related developments – is an example of that support.

Scottish Enterprise has also recently launched a £35m fund to support the manufacturers of next-generation offshore wind technology in Scotland. The POWERS fund aims to leverage up to a further £80m in private investment and will help move technology to prototype.

Emerging Scottish companies in the renewables sector need the right environment to evolve, attract investment and ultimately flourish and demonstrable government support is critical to such a new field.

This latest investment will stimulate work to capitalise on the opportunities that exist and provide a boost to the Scottish economy at this time. It will be interesting to see where this takes us.

• Nathan Goode heads up Energy, Environment & Sustainability for Grant Thornton