Oil and gas isn't the only North Sea crisis - politicians need to stop squabbling and focus on renewables

The then-first minister claimed the flagship policy was “a massive step forward in our transition to net zero” and would “help deliver the supply chain investments and high quality jobs that will make the climate transition a fair one”.

But four years on, both the ScotWind and subsequent Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) projects have been sluggish to get going. Billions of investment could head to Scotland in supply chains as projects scale up, so the prize is clearly both economic and environmental.

It is plain to see that the funding raised from leasing the seabed has not predominantly been used to prop up Scotland’s stuttering progress to meet climate targets.

READ MORE: Flagship North Sea floating wind projects stall as SNP warned not to 'squander' renewables potential

Although £96m of core funding from ScotWind lease options has been squandered on balancing the books, potentially, the entirety of the £755m pot could have been gobbled up in annual budgets.

Starkly, SNP ministers expect to call upon a further £507m of ScotWind money by 2031 including £80m in the current financial year. Previously, the Scottish government has earmarked hundreds of millions to balance its budgets, a statutory obligation of ministers, before being able to hand the funds back to Crown Estate Scotland due to more favourable settlements from Westminster.

In 2023/24, SNP ministers warned £310m of the fund may need to be used, in 2024-25, £424m was earmarked and in 2025-26, £364m was planned to be spend to balance the books. Luckily, the Scottish government received additional funding which meant this money was returned to the pot. But surely, this was not the envisioned use of the ScotWind funds and is not sustainable.

The SNP has become obsessed with being seen to back the North Sea oil and gas sector in a stark reversal from the stance when the ScotWind contracts were awarded. But less attention has been given to Scotland’s offshore renewables sector, which is facing its own vast challenges - including slow scale-up of supply chains, particularly domestically. That is not to say the SNP government does not care about renewables, quite the opposite.

READ MORE: Why Grangemouth's green fuels blueprint has stalled amid fears of 'irreversible industrial decline'

Some have argued that offering up so many ScotWind licences was over-ambitious and that those projects will not all see the light of day. But Scotland’s energy future, whether as part of the UK or as an independent nation, is primarily focused on renewables. This is particularly pronounced given the SNP is opposed to new nuclear power developments.

But in recent months, we have seen Shell hand back a ScotWind licence while BP has withdrawn from the North Sea. Concerns have also been raised about hopes for floating wind projects in the INTOG round of leases, with fears that wider implications for North Sea oil and gas companies is making fossil fuels companies nervous about investing in those developments.

If the Scottish government does want Scotland to become a global energy powerhouse, then transparency and openness about its flagship projects, and its finances, is necessary.

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ScotWind projects are certainly not dead in the water and net zero are going nowhere, despite the more hostile political climate.

Investors need confidence if they are to follow through on plans to scale up renewable energy projects. That can only be achieved by Scotland’s two governments working together instead of being at each other’s throats over the future of the North Sea.