Scotland must capitalise on oil & gas expertise to secure green investment said Alex Salmond today at an energy summit held in Aberdeen. He believes collaboration between the oil & gas and renewables sectors will accelerate Scotland’s transition to a low carbon economy. Offshore wind alone could bring 48,000 jobs and contribute over £7billion to the country.

Mr Salmond said: “Scotland already, per head of population, has ten-times the renewable energy of England but as the industry moves offshore we have even more potential. We are well-positioned to become the green powerhouse of Europe, with an estimated quarter of the continent’s potential wind and tidal energy capacity and a tenth of its wave resource.

“This summit has brought together leaders in our oil & gas and renewable energy sectors with the aim of ensuring that Scotland capitalises on decades of expertise in offshore oil and gas engineering as we forge a low carbon future. This will give Scotland a strong competitive advantage when it comes to securing investment opportunities in the rapidly growing green energy industry.”

Sir Ian Wood, founder and chair of the Wood Group, and Ian Marchant, chief executive of Scottish and Southern Energy, co-chaired the summit. It brought together representatives of many leading energy companies including Scottish Power, Subsea 7, Technip, Dong Energy and Vattenfall and was organised by Scottish Enterprise.

Niall Stuart Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables said: “Offshore renewables present a massive opportunity for the engineering industry that has grown up around our oil and gas sector, and likewise, the expertise amassed over decades of exploration and production will be invaluable in driving down costs”