Stephen Gethins: Scotland ‘in danger of being left behind’ on energy security

Scotland is “in danger of being left behind” as a potential part of Europe’s future energy security, Stephen Gethins has said.  

The Scottish Government’s minister for Europe, external affairs and energy warned that not being a part of the single market puts “our business at a competitive disadvantage”. 

Speaking during a Holyrood fringe event on the future of the North Sea, in partnership with OEUK, at the SNP’s annual conference in Aberdeen, Gethins argued that Scotland, along with Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany, hold the key to Europe’s future energy security.  

He told delegates: “Using the skills that we already have gives Scotland a particular competitive advantage.  

“Five countries can help, but the biggest components are in Scotland and Norway. However, because we sit outside the single market, we put out business at a competitive disadvantage.” 

Gethins added: “It’s impacting chemicals, people, research, and things like grid and electricity alignment. The rest of Europe is moving further ahead than us, so it becomes easier to transport electricity from Denmark to Germany, for example, than it is to transport it from Scotland or England to France. 

“And incidentally, the Irish are currently building a massive interconnector to France, despite being much further away and it being much harder to do, and that tells you a little bit about how we are in danger of being left behind.” 

The comments came after Gethins’ motion to conference to back domestic production over importing oil and gas from overseas and ditching the party’s “presumption against” new developments was backed by party members.  

David Whitehouse, CEO of OEUK, commented on the potential new drilling projects of Jackdaw and Rosebank, which the UK Government reportedly could make a decision on as early as next week.  

Whitehouse said the reasons to support oil and gas production in the two fields are “overwhelming”. 

He said: “Today, we have people working offshore in the North Sea on those assets. They are ready to come online. And in reality, would we really bring them up, tell them they’ve lost their jobs, dismantle what they have built, take over a billion pounds out of the UK economy, and do that simply so that we import essentially the same stuff but from overseas where they don’t have anything like the same environmental rigour.” 

Whitehouse added: “I don’t see that as anyway being in any shape or form in conflict with the need to build out renewable energy. It’s complementary.” 

Donna Sutherland, head of commercial at Veri Energy, said “at the moment there isn’t a just transition” and she is “acutely aware” of job losses in the energy sector. 

She said: “It can be a just transition; I just wish this was a whole system-led transition, not a policy-led transition. We talk a lot, but we are not listened to.”