Peterhead Port hosts more than 200 at energy transition event

More than 200 people attended an energy transition event hosted by Peterhead Port Authority last week in conjunction with Invest Aberdeen and the North Sea Transition Authority.

Peterhead Port: Embracing the Energy Transition Opportunity was held at the Score Group premises in the town.

PPA chief financial officer Stephen Paterson opened proceedings by noting that over well over £100 million had been invested in port infrastructure during his 30 years but the years ahead would be the most exciting.

“New prospects are arriving on the horizon for us but we expect to see decades of work in oil and gas also - it’s an energy transition not an energy switch-off.

Peterhead Port held a recent transition event.

“We recognise that the North-East of Scotland can’t do everything but we believe there’s lots we can get engaged with and will create jobs and prosperity for the next generation and those beyond.”

David Duguid MP spoke about the fact that Peterhead had changed with the times and embraced the opportunities coming its way.

He believed that we had the skills and opportunities to embrace the transition and lead the way - creating valuable jobs for the region.

“Peterhead Port not only sits at the heart of the community - not forgetting the importance of the fishing industry - but is in a great position to be a key part of the energy transition and its journey.”

He praised the PPA event at Score Group and said the area needed to push forward into the future of solar, wind, hydrogen, CCUS and other opportunities.

“We need to maintain and grow our market share in this energy transition; it can bring vast jobs and prosperity to the region.”

Phil Milton, CEO of decommissioning specialist Well-Safe Solutions, said the business had grown from six staff members when it launched in 2017 to almost 400 today.

He praised the facilities at Peterhead Port and said it could benefit hugely from some of the reverse engineering the decommissioning sector would create in the coming decades.

“We are at the heart of the energy transition - we are there for the decommissioning of wells. We also see opportunity in carbon capture and storage; new wells need to be drilled and old wells repurposed. It’s where we see our business going in terms of our business and the capability to do that. And we are bringing new talent into the industry.”

He said £2bn was expected to be spent on decommissioning in the next year and 48% will be spent on well decommissioning.

“Peterhead can be a big part of that decom phase. It’s a huge opportunity.”

Ian Davidson, Score Group commercial director, said the company had been investing heavily in the next generation of people within the sector who would lead the charge.

“We have 350 apprentices worldwide and most of them are in Peterhead - we are investing in young people on an industrial scale. The average age of a Score person is 32 years old - there’s loads of young faces in our business who are the future of the sector.”