His Majesty King Charles III visited Peterhead earlier today to learn how the port is positioning itself at the forefront of Scotland’s and the United Kingdom’s energy transition.
The visit highlighted the town’s unique opportunity to play a leading role in the transformation of the energy sector while ensuring that the economic benefits, investment and employment opportunities created by that transition are retained locally for the benefit of communities across Peterhead and the north east of Scotland.
His Majesty was welcomed by Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire Mr Sandy Manson and was met by a Guard of Honour of Peterhead Sea Cadets and Peterhead RNLI crew.
He was presented to Peterhead Port Authority convenor James Buchan DL, deputy convener Gavin Thain and chief executive Graeme Reid, together with Provost of Aberdeenshire Judy Whyte and Aberdeenshire Council chief executive Jim Savege.
During his visit, His Majesty was provided with an overview of the activities of Peterhead Port Authority including a proposed quay extension and other strategic investments planned for the port.
At the heart of the visit was the message that Peterhead is one of the few locations in the UK where the key elements of the energy transition ecosystem are coming together in a single place.
With its major commercial port, established energy and offshore supply chain, planned investment in electricity transmission, carbon capture and low-carbon power generation, emerging offshore wind opportunities and a highly experienced workforce, Peterhead is uniquely placed to support the UK’s journey towards a lower-carbon future.
His Majesty met with representatives from Peterhead Port Authority, the Peterhead Energy Transition Forum, Maritime Developments Ltd, businesses involved in powering and connecting the energy transition, local supply-chain companies and organisations responsible for developing the skills and workforce needed for the industries of the future.
The visit demonstrated the strong collaboration already taking place across the region to create the conditions needed for long-term growth and investment.
Today, the skills, infrastructure, engineering expertise, marine capabilities and supply-chain relationships built over decades are providing a strong foundation for the next chapter. Rather than starting from scratch, Peterhead is using its existing strengths to embrace emerging technologies and opportunities in renewables, carbon capture and hydrogen.
The opportunity for both Peterhead and the north east of Scotland is significant, with the Peterhead Energy Transition Forum estimating that investment of up to £1 billion could be attracted to the area, supporting around 8,000 jobs across renewable energy, carbon capture, hydrogen and related industries, while generating an estimated £626 million for the local economy by 2035.
Central to this vision is Peterhead Port Authority, which has demonstrated its ability to evolve alongside the changing energy landscape and continues to play a vital role in enabling the transition.
The ambition is not simply to host major energy projects, but to ensure that long-term jobs, skills, economic value and supply-chain opportunities are created and retained within the local community, securing a prosperous future for generations to come.
Provost of Aberdeenshire Judy Whyte said: “It was an honour to welcome King Charles to Peterhead today and I hope he gained a valuable understanding and appreciation of the incredible work taking place in the north-east of Scotland.
“It was wonderful to see His Majesty taking such an interest in the organisations and businesses which are at the forefront of the energy transition and, in particular, the impressive skills development required to reach our ambitious aims.”
Graeme Reid, Chief Executive of Peterhead Port Authority, said: “His Majesty’s visit was a tremendous honour for Peterhead Port and a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the scale of the economic opportunity that the energy transition presents for Peterhead and the wider North-East. For more than 50 years this port and the businesses around it have supported the North Sea energy industry.
“We have the skills, the experience, the supply chain and the infrastructure, and our task now is to build on those strengths for the next generation of energy development.”
A key aspect of the visit was to enable His Majesty to meet with several of the key businesses involved in powering the energy transition. Among these were SSE Thermal and Storegga, where he learned more about the development of the Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station and the Acorn Carbon Capture Project.
There was also an opportunity for His Majesty to meet with those businesses involved in connecting the energy transition including SSEN Transmission, learning how SSEN and their immediate partners are investing to create new transmission infrastructure in Aberdeenshire to support the rest of the country and how the Peterhead Developers Forum is bringing businesses and organisations together to support this investment.
His Majesty also took a keen interest in the work of delivering and coordinating the energy transition which is being led by the Peterhead Energy Transition Forum.
The skills training for energy transition was of considerable interest to His Majesty and he met with a range of organisations helping to develop skills, education and community wealth building in the area including NESCOL and the PETF Community Wealth Working Group, together with the headteacher and pupils of Peterhead Academy.
The importance of the new North East Scotland Investment Zone from a Peterhead and surrounding area perspective was also outlined by Aberdeenshire Council officers, before His Majesty met with representatives of Maritime Developments Limited (MDL) to hear about the firm’s business and investment plans at Peterhead Port.