Boasting one of Europe’s largest offshore Renewable Energy Zones, Scotland is a natural location for your offshore wind project. We're already leading the way in offshore wind development, with almost 3.4 gigawatts (GW) already operational or under construction and up to 6.7GW in the pipeline, and we’re ensuring this huge market continues to boom.

30GW of Scotwind projects are proposed for development, including 19.3GW of floating wind and a further 5.4GW in the proposed Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round.

The INTOG leasing round is a process through which developers will be able to apply for the rights to build offshore wind farms specifically for the purpose of providing low carbon electricity to power oil and gas installations and help to decarbonise the sector. It also provides an opportunity to enable small-scale (less than 100MW) innovation projects, including alternative outputs such as hydrogen.

In addition, the UK’s Offshore Wind Sector Deal aims to deliver 50GW of offshore wind in the UK by 2030 by running regular Contracts for Difference auctions - these are the UK’s mechanism for supporting low carbon generation.

As a world's top 10 offshore wind market, Scotland’s enormous project pipeline is creating opportunities for:

• Innovative floating wind technologies
• Substructures
• Mooring systems
• Large castings and forgings
• Turbine blades
• Electrical substations
• Export and array cable manufacturing
• Construction and associated supply chains

Paul O’Brien, Scotland’s leading DeepWind cluster expert, shares his insights about how Scotland is at the forefront of the 5th Industrial Revolution.

More on Scotland's offshore wind opportunity 

With heat currently the single largest source of our emissions, the scale of the low carbon heat opportunity in Scotland is enormous, presenting immediate opportunities in heat pumps and heat networks.

By choosing Scotland, you’ll benefit from strong government support that will drive the growth of low carbon heating, including £1.8 billion of funding over the next five years to ensure we reach our ambitious heat targets.

By 2024 all new homes in Scotland must use zero emissions heat, and all local authorities must have a local heat and energy efficiency plan.

In the UK, nearly all homes, businesses, commercial and public sector buildings need to switch to a zero-emissions heating system by 2045. To achieve this, an estimated 600,000 heat pumps are aiming to be installed annually by 2028 and up to 1.9 million annually by the mid-2030s.

By locating here, you’ll unlock a huge market in Scotland and the UK and gain an early mover advantage for heat pump manufacturing, components, installation and servicing, as well as piping components, metering, smart controls and systems integration.

Doreen Reid, our Low Carbon Energy Transition Specialist outlines Scotland’s approach to the challenges and opportunities of decarbonising heat. 

More on Scotland's low carbon heat opportunity 

Scotland is forging ahead in the commercial development of hydrogen. £100 million will be pumped into Scotland’s hydrogen industry over the next five years to achieve the Scottish Government's hydrogen economy vision opens in a new window .

You’ll find that our supportive policy environment, advanced capabilities in hydrogen research and development (R&D), extensive energy, maritime and offshore infrastructure and skilled workforce have created opportunities in:

• Large-scale green and blue hydrogen production
• Hydrogen electrolyser manufacturing
• Hydrogen storage, conversion and distribution
• End-use appliances
• Exporting hydrogen

Scotland is committed to becoming a world-leading hydrogen nation and major exporter, with abundant energy resources able to serve emerging markets in northern and central Europe.

By locating in Scotland, you could be part of this booming market from the get-go, helping us realise our ambition of 5GW of clean hydrogen production by 2030 and 25GW by 2045.

There are several energy transition hubs emerging across Scotland, including Cromarty Firth Energy Hub and the Orion project in Shetland. These hubs are starting to demonstrate the scale of the opportunity and Scotland’s potential role in the large-scale production and supply of hydrogen.

Hunterston Port and Resource Centre (PARC) is the complete redevelopment of the 320-acre deep-water port and marine yard on Scotland’s North Ayrshire coast.

The PARC’s Centre for New Industry and New Energy (C-NINE) is attracting innovative commercial ventures and applying new scientific solutions to address important challenges such as the conversion of plastic to new products and hydrogen.

The PARC is also seeking investment for the development and ongoing management of new power generation facilities that target renewable and transitional technologies such as waste-to-energy, hydrogen, biomass and other feedstocks.

Green investment opportunity at Hunterston PARC 

Scotland is a first mover and test bed for innovative hydrogen energy solutions that will help to decarbonise transport systems and reduce our carbon footprint on the planet.

Learn more about Scotland's hydrogen energy opportunity 

Scotland’s oil and gas industry will play a key role in delivering a net zero future. Our experience, expertise and capability have already been instrumental in fast-tracking our deployment of offshore wind and other renewable energy sources.

You’ll now find unique opportunities for investment and innovation as we begin to decarbonise our oil and gas assets and infrastructure.

The UK oil and gas sector is committed to a net zero North Sea, with tough emission reduction targets of 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2040. This means you can benefit from exciting opportunities in:

• Platform electrification in the INTOG leasing round (from offshore renewables)
• Reductions in flaring and venting
• Digital data management
• Data-centric execution and operations
• Operational efficiency and emissions reduction from power generation on offshore infrastructure

Offshore electrification and the integration of offshore energy systems into energy hubs will be key to expanding our offshore renewables, particularly floating wind, as well as accelerating carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) opportunities.

By repurposing elements of our natural gas production and processing infrastructure, you could produce blue hydrogen at scale and help us with our aim to decarbonise 30% of the UK’s natural gas supply by 2050.

David Rennie, our Head of Low Carbon Energy, explores the challenges and benefits of this transition.