Investments in Scotland’s growing renewables industry have proven the strength of close working between public and private sectors, Alex Salmond said this week as he announced details of a two-day global green finance conference to be held in Edinburgh in September.
The Scottish Low Carbon Investment conference will take place on September 27th and 28th following the success of last year’s inaugural event, attended by around 550 delegates from government, low carbon industries and the financial sectors.
The First Minister announced details of the event in an address at the annual conference of the Scottish European Green Energy Centre (SEGEC), where he also welcomed a Skills Investment Plan for the energy industry – where as many as 95,000 potential job opportunities have been identified across sectors, including up to 28,000 in offshore wind.
He said: “SEGEC has played a key role in placing Scotland at the heart of EU networks and debates on renewables, carbon capture & storage and energy infrastructure. It has helped secure over 100 million euros EU funding for key projects such as the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre in Aberdeen and the Moray Firth node – one of the building blocks of the future North Sea Grid.
“The economic opportunity in renewables is clear – with the value of the sector in Scotland now estimated to rise from £2.6 billion in 2007-08 to as much as £3.2 billion by 2013-14. The wider low carbon market is expected to rise from around £8.5 billion in 2007-08 to £12 billion by 2015-16 – over 10 per cent of the Scottish economy – and this potential was the focus of last year’s Low Carbon Investment conference.
“The event enabled government, international finance, utilities and developers to engage directly on investment opportunities, while further raising Scotland’s profile in the global low carbon economy. In the five months since then, our renewables sector has seen significant investment announcements by leading international manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Gamesa and ABB, and continued success of Scottish companies.
“Scotland is already reaping the rewards of our active engagement, through our agencies and SEGEC, with European agencies and the commercial sector. However, there must be no let up in our efforts to secure an increasing share of the growing global low carbon market. That is why, as part of that work, I am pleased to announce the second Low Carbon Investment conference will take place on the 27th and 28th of September in Edinburgh.”
Commenting on the Energy Skills Investment Plan, the First Minister added: “As many as 95,000 potential job opportunities have been identified across all sectors of the energy industry. However, that will require continued investment in the skills and talents of our people. That is why I have already announced, last week, that up to £1 million will be made available to provide as many as 500 modern apprenticeships in our energy and low carbon sectors over this next year. That is only a starting point, however. And I call upon all partners – those in our colleges, universities, local government, industry and beyond – to work together to prioritise our efforts and investment so we can continue to deliver a world class energy workforce for Scotland.”
The 2011 SLCI conference will again be organised by Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce with the support of Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government.
EU North Sea Grid Co-ordinator Georg Adamowitsch, who addressed last year’s conference, said: “The establishment of this conference, examining the financing and investment options for low carbon energy development, has been an excellent idea. Europe has very ambitious targets and last year’s conference provided a good opportunity to examine how the financial sector can help us meet them, with a range of investment opportunities. By signing a Memorandum of Understanding at the end of last year, the 10 countries of the North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative shared the common goal of moving to a sustainable low-carbon economy and again this shows the importance of this conference. I’m sure the 2011 conference will be equally, if not more, successful.”
Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Ron Hewitt added: “The SLCI conference gives us an unparalleled opportunity to focus on the great opportunities that the industry offers to Scottish businesses and, equally, it provides a unique chance for all interested parties to come together to look at how we might resolve the considerable challenges of moving to a low carbon economy. The SLCI conference pulls these together from a Scottish, UK and international perspective in a way which helps business engage with what is happening in this exciting sector.”
Scottish Enterprise Chief Executive Lena Wilson commented: “We look forward to building on the success of last year’s inaugural SLCI conference, which has been widely lauded as a resounding success in helping create an environment that brings investment and opportunity together. We have also continued to make significant progress in Scotland’s low carbon business environment with exciting new developments such as the Power Network Demonstration Centre and £70 million National Renewables Infrastructure Fund to name but a few. We have reached a critical point in the development of Scotland’s low carbon ambition and this year’s conference will provide an important forum to progress our work and strengthen Scotland’s position as a location of choice for low carbon developments.”
SDS chairman John McClelland added: “The first edition of the Energy Skills Investment Plan has been developed collaboratively with industry through the Energy Advisory Board, which tasked us with reviewing future skills and employment demands. The work has been demanding but also very rewarding, as we begin to evidence the scale of the opportunity and better understand the capacity that already exists to respond to and exploit future opportunities. Our plan articulates an initial set of actions to bring greater focus to our collective efforts and address areas where we need to build capacity in response to the development of what will be a very dynamic labour market, with strong regional and sectoral demands. We look forward to working with partners and industry to deliver a world class energy workforce for Scotland.”
