Peterhead Shaping the Energy Transition

With a strong pipeline of energy transition projects planned for the North East of Scotland, BiGGAR Economics’ recent analysis estimated that Peterhead could secure £1 billion of the construction spend required to deliver these projects, generating £626 million GVA and supporting 800 annual jobs for ten years within the local economy.

The Peterhead Energy Transition Forum recently launched Peterhead Shaping the Energy Transition, a shared Vision highlighting Peterhead’s unique position to shape the energy transition, centred around four main pillars, collaboration, decarbonisation, transformation, and prosperity, all of which are underpinned by Peterhead’s proximity to the North Sea, existing energy infrastructure, and port facilities.

Collaboration

Peterhead’s unique environment of collaboration across the local supply chain, educational institutions and energy transition companies continues to enable Peterhead to be a leading energy hub, with the capacity to host a cluster of renewable and low-carbon energy projects and infrastructure to support Scotland’s journey to Net Zero.

The Vision itself is a testimony to the 13 Peterhead-focused stakeholder companies collectively working to facilitate mutually beneficial investment, strategic partnerships, skills development, and ongoing community engagement.

Decarbonisation

Peterhead’s existing strengths, outlined in the Vision, make Peterhead particularly well-suited to deliver a strong pipeline of projects. In particular, with the potential to develop Scotland’s first carbon capture power station, Peterhead is expected to play an integral role in the Acorn Project, host multiple SSEN Transmission projects, and target 30 gigawatt (GW) of offshore ScotWind projects and 5.4GW of the Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas (INTOG) project pipeline.

The energy transition provides an opportunity for Peterhead to leverage its rich skills base, supply chain capability, and existing infrastructure to deliver a strong pipeline of projects and enable the town to secure £1 billion of the construction spend required. This expenditure is estimated to generate £626 million GVA and support 800 annual jobs for ten years within the local economy. The activity required to operate and maintain this pipeline of projects is also expected to generate an additional £71 million GVA and support 820 jobs every year in the Peterhead Economy.

Transformation

The scale of this opportunity could have a transformational impact on Peterhead and the communities within it, enabling sustainable growth within the region. The Forum’s commitment to contribute to local economic and community development initiatives will ensure that the whole economy benefits from a just transition as Peterhead shapes the energy transition.

To support this transformation, a number of initiatives are already taking place in Peterhead, including the Peterhead Port Authority’s charitable and sponsorship work, Score’s apprenticeship programme and SSE Thermal’s community investment programme. With many more opportunities outlined in the Vision, alongside key opportunity areas and investment opportunities, the Forum is committed to advancing and maximising local economic and community development in the Peterhead area for current and future generations, alongside the journey to Net Zero.

Prosperity

The Forum’s continued and collective effort to secure investment for several key areas, including the development of skills, education and enterprise, and infrastructure improvements, enables Peterhead to deliver a strong pipeline of projects and play a crucial role in the decarbonisation of Scotland and have a transformational effect on Peterhead’s communities.

Find Out More

The full Vision document can be viewed here.

With the UK Government pledging £200 million in development funding to prepare the Acorn Project for delivery, and the announcement of Peterhead Port and Maritime Developments Ltd’s development of a new energy service base, Peterhead’s opportunity continues to grow.