MEMBER NEWS: Scottish Labour’s Leader Visits Port of Aberdeen

June 10, 2024
MEMBER NEWS: Scottish Labour’s Leader Visits Port of Aberdeen

Scottish Labour’s Leader, Anas Sarwar MSP, today (7 June 2024) visited Port of Aberdeen’s transformational £420 million Aberdeen South Harbour facility. The expanded port is set to deliver a multi-billion pound economic and jobs boost for Scotland, unlocking new opportunities in energy, trade, tourism.

Welcomed by Port of Aberdeen’s Chair, Roy Buchan, and CEO, Bob Sanguinetti, Mr Sarwar toured the state-of-the-art facility. The new harbour positions Aberdeen at the heart of the next generation of offshore windfarms in Scottish waters.

Mr Sarwar was briefed on the port’s significance as a national strategic asset, handling 43% of Scotland’s total vessel traffic, and its critical role in driving sustainable economic growth and energy transition.

Already an economic powerhouse for the region, independent analysis forecasts that when the expanded Port of Aberdeen reaches its full potential the port’s Gross Value Added contribution will jump 60% to £2.4 billion, increasing the number of jobs supported by 45% to 17,500.

During the visit, Mr Sarwar walked the quayside at South Harbour, seeing up the port’s support for activity on oil and gas, renewables, cargo, and decommissioning in action and learning how the port is delivering its award-winning 2040 net zero strategy.

Bob Sanguinetti, CEO, Port of Aberdeen, said: “We were pleased to host Mr Sarwar and discuss our ongoing and future projects. It is evident that our full potential, benefitting both Scotland and the UK, hinges on a carefully managed energy transition.

“We support Labour’s commitment to investing £1.8 billion in Britain’s port infrastructure and hope this level of investment remains a priority, irrespective of the party in power at Westminster in the coming weeks.”

Anas Sarwar said: “I am delighted to visit the Port of Aberdeen to meet workers and management and learn more about the work being done here.

“Ports like Aberdeen are vital to our economic future and that is why Labour is committed to investing in ports to support our economy.

“Scottish Labour’s bold plans will deliver jobs, investment and growth for the North East and we are committed to working with business and unions to deliver the change we need.”

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AREG has played an important role in the growth of Scotland’s renewable energy sector, engaging the supply chain and developing the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. However, we are only at the very beginning of the transition that AREG was established to both lead and support so there are still opportunities for companies to get into the constantly evolving renewables supply chain. We look forward to continuing our work together as renewables builds on its place as Scotland’s main source of power, and as we seek to deliver real change in the crucial areas of heat and transport.

Scottish Renewables
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Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with AREG since its formation. The recent progress in the developments of offshore wind projects by Equinor and Vattenfall are as a result of the work of the group over many years. The north-east is known as the oil and gas capital of Europe. At the Chamber, we believe the region must evolve its position to being recognised as the energy capital. Whilst hydrocarbons will continue to be essential in driving our economy for years to come, the generation of renewable resources will play an increasingly important role in providing cost-effective power, innovative development and economic growth.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce
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The enthusiasm and dedication of the early group that would become AREG was fundamental in us choosing to launch All-Energy in Aberdeen. The first tiny show was held in 2001, and AREG’s Chairman at the time, Jeremy Cresswell, played such an active role that I often describe him in terms such as All-Energy’s ‘midwife’. All-Energy is now the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon energy exhibition and conference in terms of number of attendees, space booked, and number of exhibiting companies. As AREG became firmly established, their presence and support for the event grew spectacularly over the years. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable input.

All-Energy
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Vattenfall has forged a strong working relationship with AREG through the development of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. AREG has worked tirelessly on behalf of the North East and it can take enormous credit for the growth of sustainable energy in the region and the path it has cleared for the region to capture further investment.

Vattenfall
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Aberdeen City and Shire is emerging as a key location for renewables by successfully transferring its world-class oil and gas expertise into the sector and AREG has done much to advance this through a broad range of initiatives. It has acted as a catalyst in driving further investment in the local economy by engaging with companies, Government, public bodies and existing projects and we have been pleased to support their efforts. Scottish Enterprise will continue to engage with AREG as we increase Scotland’s use of renewable energy.

Scottish Enterprise