Floating offshore windfarms: A £47 billion solution to North Sea energy jobs crisis (if we get it right)

It wasn’t just coal either, with traditional heavy industries and major employers, shipbuilding, steel production, car manufacturing and the like all following similar, steady and concerted downward trends. People who had spent years plying their trade found themselves, almost overnight, out of work. Communities were devastated and we’re still seeing the ripples from those years playing out in front of us today.

Many would be forgiven for thinking that we had crossed that Rubicon. That such seismic changes in the UK’s economy would mark the end of our island nation’s time as an industrial powerhouse.

Seize the opportunity

But things are rarely foregone conclusions and when one door closes, another often opens. We are in a very different place today. The UK, and Scotland specifically, stands on the brink of a major clean energy opportunity, one that could reshape the country’s economy, create thousands of skilled jobs and help to secure a more sustainable future.

Floating offshore wind, a technology once thought to be experimental and unfeasible on a large scale, has established itself as one of the most important industries; a necessity for delivering both net zero by 2050 and a just transition for oil and gas workers. Few places are better placed to lead this shift than Scotland.

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With strong winds, world-class engineering talent and a long history of offshore experience, Scotland is uniquely positioned to become a global leader in floating wind. However, for this to happen, we need the right decisions from both government and industry. We must act now to seize the opportunity in front of us, to maintain and leverage our North Sea oil and gas industry and the expertise found within that, and to establish a floating wind supply chain in Scotland.

Underpinning this need for speed is a sobering fact. If we miss this moment before 2030, we risk losing it for good as other countries will take the lead and claim the prize.

Decarbonising oil rigs

Floating offshore wind rightly features as one of the UK’s ‘frontier clean energy industries’ within the UK Government’s recent Industrial Strategy and with good reason. By 2050, it could generate £47 billion in economic value to the UK. The ambition is right: doubling investment, scaling low-carbon exports, creating good jobs and transforming the country into a clean-energy superpower. From port upgrades and manufacturing to marine engineering and fabrication, floating wind will drive investment into Scottish communities.

We’re already seeing signs of this future. Our Aspen project will help anchor the floating wind supply chain here in Scotland through our hub at the Port of Ardersier near Inverness, creating 1,000 skilled jobs. Our partners are ready to invest in the infrastructure that supports this growth.

Moreover, the power produced by Aspen’s turbines will help to decarbonise oil and gas platforms, sustaining North Sea jobs as part of an integrated offshore energy system. A healthy oil and gas sector is good for floating wind, and vice versa. From an engineering perspective, there are huge similarities between the two industries and Aspen has been designed in partnership with and for the oil and gas industry.

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Danger of delaying too long

However, this opportunity isn’t guaranteed. If we delay, other countries will move faster, and supply chains will become entrenched overseas. Once that happens, it becomes incredibly difficult to bring them back home.

Moreover, after 2030, the electrification of many aging oil and gas assets won’t make financial sense. Aspen is our last best chance to cut emissions and extend the life of the North Sea, an asset that we must protect.

The UK’s support mechanisms, such as the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, are vital tools for encouraging investment. Recently, the government signalled that fixed-bottom offshore wind projects might be allowed to bid for CfDs before securing planning permission, unlocking earlier investment. That’s welcome news.

However, floating wind projects, despite being just as advanced, may not be given the same flexibility. That’s a missed opportunity. Investors need early-stage certainty to commit funding. If floating wind is to succeed, it must be given a level playing field. This isn’t about special treatment, it’s about practical delivery. The decisions we make in the coming months will shape the industry for decades to come.

A national imperative

More than 14 gigawatts of floating capacity have now been awarded in Scotland alone, enough to power all of the homes in Scotland with clean electricity several times over. We have the experience, the expertise, and the drive. What we need now is to move at pace to ensure this opportunity isn’t lost.

Floating wind is about more than turbines far offshore. It’s about how we build a fairer, greener economy. It’s about ensuring North Sea workers that leave their families for weeks on end to keep the lights on in homes up and down the UK have an industry to transition into as oil and gas production declines. We cannot allow the mistakes of the 1980s to be repeated.

As well as being a national imperative, it’s a local one. From small businesses in the supply chain to apprenticeships in our colleges, the benefits of floating wind can and should be felt across Scotland.

We have a once-in-a-generation chance to shape the energy sector in a way that delivers long-term jobs, energy security and sustainability. The ambition is here. The supply chain is ready. The time to act is now.

Dan Jackson is founding director of Cerulean Winds