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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
READY AND WILLING How Scotland’s offshore supply chain can win from the energy transition
There are two golden rules of industry transformation: change is inevitable, and many people resist change. However, after a year in which all norms have been turned on their heads, there is no doubting that the North Sea energy supply chain has a genuine desire and motivation to embrace both net-zero carbon and the broader energy transition. The societal benefits are understood and very well supported. The transition also provides a second growth horizon. We are prepared to learn and grow as we have done in oil and gas over the last half century. As co-chair of the Oil and Gas Authority’s Supply Chain and Exports Taskforce, and as a part of the Strategic Leadership Group for the Energy Transition, my strategic focus, along with my colleagues, is clear: to ensure that the UKCS supply chain realises its full potential in contributing to the world’s first integrated net-zero Ensuring energy system in the North Sea.
For Petrofac, in the UK we have committed to achieving Net-zero by 2025. Our strategy is threefold: reduce emissions; transform and maximise energy efficiency by adopting new technologies; and actively support our stakeholders in their net-zero journeys. We’re also actively supporting our clients to transition to new energy economies. The relevance and transferability of our expertise is well demonstrated on the Acorn Project – Scotland’s ambitious CCS and hydrogen programmes – where we are supporting the project team to establish the same best-practice project management and reporting tools that would be deployed on any major CAPEX project. Ensuring that the UK is viewed as a good place for energy companies to anchor their resources will be key to the sector’s long-term success. It may have become fashionable for the UK supply chain to talk about avoiding the mistakes made in the wind space, but it’s also true. The UK has created the world’s most active offshore wind market and installed the most capacity globally, but it has lacked in the infrastructure and cost competitiveness required to secure the CAPEX opportunity. Learning from those lessons, the Government is actively driving an initiative to develop the HCCUS supply chain in the UK and realise its export potential. We must take a proactive approach to plan what we need, develop a that the UK globally competitive proposition, and anchor key capability to the UK.
is viewed as a good
place for energy The single biggest confirmation of the scale that transition offers, companies to anchor was articulated in the North their resources will Sea Transition Deal. Announced be key to the sector’s in late March, it aims to deliver between £14-16 billion of activity long-term success in decarbonisation, hydrogen and CCUS. The commitment to the supply chain includes voluntary UK content of 50% in new transition projects (and new decommissioning projects) as well as a 30% UK content commitment for technology spend. This deal really is a big deal. We all know, however, that even the best plans and frameworks are only the starting point, and we all have to pull together to bring the potential to life. For the supply chain, it’s about developing the right technical standards, taking what we have learned in oil and gas and overlaying that with quality and safety standards appropriate for renewable and low carbon projects. The industry’s technical expertise will of course be critical to the transition.
www.ogv.energy I June 2021
John Pearson, COO at Petrofac
