Member

The second part of the consultation is about harnessing the North Sea’s unique strengths, including its offshore infrastructure, highly skilled engineers and deep supply chains, to make it a global clean energy powerhouse. In just eight months, we have already made significant progress. We have established Great British Energy in Aberdeen, so that it is in the perfect position to drive the rollout of clean energy projects. We have improved the offshore wind auction, so that later this year there will for the first time be a new clean industry bonus to reward investment in good manufacturing jobs and clean supply chains. We have overseen a record-breaking renewables auction. We have kick-started the UK’s carbon capture and hydrogen industries—the energy sectors of the future—with strong, early investments. Just yesterday, we awarded more than £55 million to the port of Cromarty Firth for upgrades that will support the development of floating offshore wind, creating hundreds of jobs as we ensure that Scotland and the UK remain world leaders in this next-generation technology. But that is just the start.