Seizing opportunities for Scotland

Energy has long played a central role in Scotland’s economy. From the North Sea oil boom to today’s pioneering renewable projects, the energy sector has been a cornerstone of investment in communities and skilled jobs for generations

Supporting communities right across Scotland 

SGN is Scotland’s gas network. We deliver energy to around two million homes and 60,000 Scottish businesses, including distilleries, glass makers, chemicals and power plants.  Our engineers are out every day serving communities, responding to gas emergencies and maintaining the network. They keep everyone safe and warm today and will continue to do so for many generations to come.

The enduring role for gas in the transition 

Our network plays a key role today in our energy system by providing critical national energy security and resilience – but it will also have a vital role tomorrow, as we transition to a lower-carbon future. We are enabling renewable energy by providing back-up power when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine, and we are increasingly using green gases – like renewable biomethane – in our pipes.  

Harnessing green gasses 

In Scotland, we have connected sufficient biomethane capacity to power up to 1 in 10 homes, and we’re planning to go further, with the ambition to increase this to one million homes across our networks by 2030. No wonder the GB National Energy System Operator (NESO) sees biomethane providing more than a third of gas demand by 2050. 

We’re also leading on hydrogen, another green gas which doesn’t emit carbon when used. This summer, we completed a first-of-its-kind trial, using existing infrastructure running from Grangemouth to Granton, to show how the local gas transmission system can be repurposed to safely carry hydrogen.

This could be transformative for the decarbonisation of industry, heat and transport. And at Methil on the Firth of Forth, we’re finishing construction, and about to start the commissioning phase, of our pioneering H100 Fife trial – which will be the UK’s first end-to-end green hydrogen project. This will provide vital evidence on hydrogen as a safe, reliable, zero-carbon alternative to natural gas. 

Our network plays a key role today in our energy system by providing critical national energy security and resilience – but it will also have a vital role tomorrow

Investing in our people 

Central to delivering these projects are our skilled engineers. Like so many workers in the sector, they are on the front line of the energy transition. This is why it is so important that our engineers have the skills for the future. Supporting workers through the transition requires long-term planning and investment, as well as collaboration between industry, the government, and our world-class universities and colleges. That’s why we have opened the UK’s first hydrogen training centre for gas engineers alongside our partners at Fife College. 

Located at the college’s Levenmouth Campus, the facility is training over 100 Gas Safe-registered engineers this year, equipping them with the green skills needed to safely convert those homes in Methil from natural gas to hydrogen. We have also trained 150 experienced emergency and repair colleagues to respond safely and effectively when the pioneering trial goes live.

Upskilling our people 

Navigating the skills challenge of the transition requires long-term commitment and investment. Later this autumn, we will open our new national training centre in Glasgow with state-of-the-art facilities to support our people in gaining the skills they will need today and for tomorrow. At the same time, we are enhancing our training, apprenticeship and graduate programmes, creating dozens of early career opportunities each year in Scotland to ensure we have a pipeline of talent into the future.

Seizing the opportunities of the transition

Scotland has the workers, the infrastructure and the ambition to lead the way in the energy transition. Together, we can seize the opportunities as we move to a lower carbon future, while playing a vital role today by providing energy security and keeping our customers safe and warm right across Scotland.

This article is sponsored by SGN. 

www.sgn.co.uk