Global Offshore Wind Investment Forum - speech by Scottish First Minister John Swinney

First Minister John Swinney delivered the keynote speech at the start Global Offshore Wind Investment Forum, which was hosted by the Scottish Government in Edinburgh today (Monday).

In an address to senior business, energy and infrastructure leaders, he shared his ambition for Scotland to become a leader in clean, secure energy, and the significant opportunities available in Scotland's offshore wind market.

The full text of the First Minister's speech is below.

Welcome everyone to Scotland's Global Offshore Wind Investment Forum, which is fundamental to realising our ambitions, and I hope that you enjoy the time that you spend here in the capital city of Scotland.

I hope you enjoyed the reception at the splendour of the National Portrait Gallery – one of the most precious assets of our country, that tells the story of our country through the people of our country.

This morning, I want to extend the warmest welcome I can to you as First Minister of Scotland. And I want to explain the commitment of my Government, and my personal commitment in leading this Government, to succeeding in the offshore investment journey. 

Because the growth and success of Scotland's offshore wind industry is inextricably linked to fulfilling Scotland's role in the world today.

It is about how we see the Scotland of today – with its history, its tremendous natural resources, our pioneering industries, our boundless potential – and it is how we build the Scotland of tomorrow as a green, dynamic, and prosperous nation.

We all know the global context that surrounds this moment in which we find ourselves. From market volatility, to international conflicts, to accelerating climate change, these are times of mounting challenges and of increasing risk.

But no one knows better than investors like yourselves, that a well-navigated risk opens up new opportunities and the potential for huge returns.

So, I have come here to personally explain how Scotland is poised to meet those challenges. And I have come to explain the opportunity at the heart of that – the scale of it and the potential prize for those who play a role in that journey.

To put it bluntly, I have come to explain to you about “why Scotland?”  “Why now?” And “why you?”

Scotland's ambition is to be nothing less than this century's global leader in clean, secure energy. And the potential reward for achieving that is nothing short of generational.

Our estimation is that the potential capital value of the Scottish offshore wind market could be around £100 billion, given full deployment of the potential pipeline.

And we are in a unique position to capitalise on this opportunity. A unique position to maximise that potential.

Our geographic location not only provides us with naturally occurring strong winds, it places us on the doorstep of large European markets with existing deep sea ports infrastructure.

The European Union urgently seeks to ensure its energy independence and the proportion of its energy that comes from renewables. We are in an ideal position to meet those needs here in Scotland.

To go along with our location, is our history. We have long decades of offshore experience thanks to our proud heritage in the North Sea oil and gas industries. 

That heritage and the skills that come from it – combined with our world leading subsea engineering capabilities – give our workforces the experience and expertise needed to capitalise on the opportunities provided by offshore wind. 

I saw this myself last Autumn when I travelled to the North East of Scotland to see Ocean Wind's new base of operations on the North Sea coast. 

There, I met an extraordinary group of highly skilled individuals, many with backgrounds in the oil and gas sector, who were servicing the offshore wind farms along the Moray coast. 

Their skills and their experience have enabled them to hit the ground running – to foresee and to understand challenges, to accurately assess risk, and to deliver the best possible response.

Scotland also has the ideal entrepreneurial and business environment for investment success. 

As a Government, we are investing heavily – both in capital and in-kind support – to make Scotland a start-up, scale-up nation.

GDP per person in Scotland has grown faster here than in the whole of the United Kingdom, and productivity has increased at more than twice the rate in the United Kingdom.

All of this creates the perfect platform to build and sustain a thriving offshore wind economy here in Scotland. It gives us the strong foundation that we need to capitalise on this opportunity.

And now is the time for it. 

We have laid the groundwork for success, and we are poised to move to the next stage of development and growth. And to hopefully reap the rewards.

We have already gained a significant first-mover advantage in the development of floating offshore wind.

In 2017, Scotland became home to the world's first commercial floating wind farm. 

And in 2022, we held the world's largest leasing round for floating offshore wind, resulting in 20 projects with seabed option agreements.  Fourteen of these are floating wind projects.

Our advantage in fixed bottom offshore wind is equally strong.

Seagreen, the world's deepest fixed bottom offshore wind farm, has been fully operational in Scottish waters since 2023. And the Moray West wind farm uses the world's largest wind turbines in production.

But, while these are terrific successes, the best undoubtedly lies ahead of us. 

To put it in perspective, we currently have 3GW of offshore wind capacity operational in Scottish waters. We have over 40GW in potential projects in the pipeline. 

As positive and promising as all of this is, you know as well as I do, that what decides if we fulfil this promise and maximise this opportunity, is the calibre of the people and the institutions that stand behind it. 

Here again, Scotland is in a uniquely strong position.

As I indicated at the outset of my remarks this morning, I said I felt it was important for me to speak directly to all of you, to share with you my own, personal commitment to this journey and my personal commitment is absolute.  

However, it is not only me and my Government who stand behind this.

We have a policy consensus in the Scottish Parliament on the importance of offshore wind to Scotland. 

And there is commitment across the United Kingdom, with our work with the United Kingdom Government as well. I'm delighted that Michael Shanks, the Minister for Energy from the United Kingdom Government, is here with us today and will speak and participate in the event. Because what that says is that the Scottish and United Kingdom Governments are closely aligned in all of our aspirations here.

We are committed to growing our economies through clean, secure energy and infrastructure.

We understand the importance of a good investment environment to this industry. And we understand that a good investment environment needs stability, consistency and predictability.

We are working together, at pace, in areas such as grid access and energy market reforms. And my Government is taking the necessary action in the areas of devolved responsibility under our control on questions such as consenting, marine licensing, and strategic investment.

The importance of ensuring those developments and decisions are taken timeously is central to the working approaches of my Government.

Our shared aim between the Scottish and United Kingdom Governments is to create a policy environment that gives you the certainty and the clarity you need to make sound investment decisions. And the investment-friendly ecosystem that you need to make those decisions successful.

But our approach is not only one of policies. It is one of direct, concrete action. And one of direct, public investment.

During the course of today, my Cabinet Secretary, my Deputy First Minister and officials will say more about the tools and support – including shared commercial investment, grants and subsidies – that will safeguard private investments in offshore wind here in Scotland.

For my part, I want to speak of up to £500 million in strategic investment that I and my Government have committed to offshore wind. 

We are deploying this over five years to spur private investment in ports, manufacturing and fabrication facilities. This is helping to anchor the offshore wind supply chain here in Scotland. 

For example, our approach supported the Japanese company Sumitomo to commit to investing £350 million in a new subsea cable manufacturing facility near the Cromarty Firth in the Highlands of Scotland. Those cables are a vital component to offshore wind farms. 

And just over this weekend, we announced a £3.2 million investment to support a £7.2 million project at the Port of Montrose on the Angus coast. Then this morning, we announced that Highlands and Islands Enterprise has approved up to £10 million to support development of the Port of Nigg's Inner East Quay.

These are examples of the practical investment that is being made out of public sector resources to stimulate and to courage private sector commitment and investment, and there will be more to come.

Bolstering our ports infrastructure and having our supply chain rooted in Scotland like this will buffer our offshore wind industry from those unpredictable global headwinds that I mentioned earlier.

It will ensure that, no matter what happens across the world, here at home, we will continue to be able to deliver.

Colleagues, many people like me who grew up in Scotland, especially in this our great capital city where I grew up, call this hotel The Caley – why? Because 120 years ago, when it opened, it was part of the Caledonian Railway's Edinburgh Princes Street railway station.  

Scotland, like the rest of the world in those days, moved on railway tracks. When the power of steam and shovelled coal was still the marvel of the age.

But nations, economies and industries change. The opportunities, and the prosperity, are found in being on the ground floor of those great changes. 

History has shown us again and again – that success is choosing the right time and place to capitalise on the next innovation of the era.

The golden age of renewables is here. Scotland is uniquely placed to usher it in. And you are uniquely placed to be on the ground floor of this, the next marvel of our age.

Over the course of today, I look forward to discussing with you the role you can play in all of that. And what more Scotland has to offer you.

This is the exciting opportunity of our age, and in Scotland we are determined to do all that we can to seize that opportunity.