Chief executive of Scottish Renewables, Claire Mack, discusses the growth of The Net-Zero Energy Transition Awards and what it shows about Scotland’s commitment to net-zero.
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It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since we last celebrated the Net-Zero Energy Transition Awards.
At Scottish Renewables, we’ve been so pleased with how they have developed in such a short space of time and what it has meant to us as an organisation – we’ve seen our membership grow 20% in the last year as a result of the energy transition.
It’s not just about numbers though, it’s what we’re seeing in terms of bold thinking and investment in our net- zero future.
Nowhere is that more important than here in Aberdeen where we have powered the world for nearly 50 years and will continue to do so through a new chapter for the North Sea over the next half century and beyond.
Celebrating new technology in the drive to net-zero
If the North East is synonymous with the energy industry, the net-zero energy industry is synonymous with new technology and innovation.
By a country mile the most popular category for this year’s awards was our Technology and Business Innovation Award.
The quality of nominations for this category were so high that it sparked a huge debate between the judges on which of the new innovative approaches to reshaping and rebuilding our energy system was the worthy winner.
But of course, they are all winners, as the entire supply chain will ultimately support our goal of saving the planet while keeping homes and industries warm and lit. How incredible is that?
They say that history is written by the winners and the energy transition will most definitely be a powerful story with some twists and turns but with a very clear conclusion – a cleaner, resilient, cheaper and secure energy system.
And our supply chain companies are the backbone of the energy transition. So many have grown up here in the North East serving the oil and gas industry where many of the key players are now also key players in renewable energy.
Looking to the The Net-Zero Energy Transition Awards 2023
We are often challenged as a sector on jobs, local content and UK-based value.
A year on from the last Net Zero Energy Awards, it gives us an opportunity to reflect on what’s changed in the last year.
How we measure success in the energy transition is an interesting point.
To the outsider or the energy user, we need it to basically stay the same. Regardless of what we do, people and businesses still need to be able to flick a switch for light, get from A to B and have access to power to enable them to stay warm or run their operations.
But behind that is a quiet revolution; one of multi-billion pounds investments in new grid infrastructure and exciting technological, cultural and innovation advances like the ones we will commend during The Net-Zero Energy Transition Awards 2023.
It’s not just the big stuff though. The energy transition is being delivered every day with each new person we employ, each new software programme and each new office opened by the companies large and small who are pushing back the threat that climate change poses.
So what is the energy transition? It’s all of these things and more.
It’s a re-build, a re-wire, a re-invention. It’s investment, it’s innovation and it’s ideological. It’s a new way of thinking and a new way of living but also just making sure that things stay the same.
The lights stay on, homes stay warm, offshore jobs are done safely and by the people who’ve spent decades earning Scotland’s place as a leader in this space, and the North Sea remains the energy and economic powerhouse of the UK and beyond.
And that is what we were all about. We are absolutely committed to working with the people, politicians and problem solvers to bring about an energy transition that is just and fair as well as one that will definitely leave the world a better place than we found it.
Find out more about The Net-Zero Energy Transition Awards before they take place on Thursday August 24.