The General Election 2024 is well underway after the Prime Minister (surprisingly perhaps) announced a July date, getting drenched in his public announcement. This sparked a meme war, that has been unrelenting since. Regardless of your intentions of who to vote for, this has enlivened public debate across social media and news outlets.
Now if Sir Keir Starmer replaces Rishi Sunak, what will this mean for offshore energy production?
Readers of ours know that promises often don’t materialise into policies and practice in politics.
Labour, however, have made two bold declarations:
- Great British Energy
- A Scottish Energy Hub (as part of GB Energy)
Keir Starmer says this of his party’s proposals:
“As we transition into clean power there is the potential for a huge number of skilled, long-term, well-payed jobs.
“GB Energy will be the driver of that to make sure that those jobs are in Scotland.
“In Europe, in America, initiatives are already under way to get ahead on renewables. I want Scotland, the UK to be in the race.
“We will base it in Scotland as the energy sector is so important in terms of renewables.”
So what does this mean, if Labour do come to power, or form a coalition?
Firstly, the money to fund this will come from windfall taxes on gas and oil firms, costed to raise £8.3 billion over the next five years.
Secondly, Great British Energy will use this money to “invest in wind and solar projects, as well as new technologies including floating offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.”
Finally, the new Energy Hub would be headquartered in Scotland, with exact plans for location to be revealed, though, presumably, we would guess, Aberdeenshire, with “a huge number of jobs” created.
Not without precedent
It’s worth noting that this GB Energy is not an original idea. In fact, the SNP, under Nicola Sturgeon, devised similar proposals in 2017, with the idea shelved in 2021.
This seemingly good idea has however is being criticised, with many observers claiming the GB Energy and Scottish Hub HQ could threaten jobs.
Keir Starmer has rejected this, stating:
“I’m convinced transition will bring more jobs to Scotland”
“We’re not going to turn the pipes off instantaneously, we’re not going to revoke any licences in place.
“The question is what we do about the transition, with oil and gas for decades to come as part of the mix.”
Clearly, the issue here is that by imposing a windfall tax, overseas and domestic investors may look elsewhere for offshore and green energy investment is punitively taxed?
We don’t know how voters will mark their X on 4th July 2024, but, if Labour do achieve an anticipated majority (or even landslide), the next 5 years will be watched closely by all of us with an interest in this growing industry.
What do you think?
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