Energy Voice – Out Loud

EVOL X Aize: A transition from energy to technology

Being able to visualise what is out at sea from the beach is a game changer for the offshore industry. But what if you started working for an energy company and ended up working for a tech start up without having to leave the business you started working for? Sarah Shearer, head of Aberdeen and people operations manager at Aize, shares her story of working at the forefront of digital twin technology and where the energy industry can go from here.

EVOL: Bad news comes in threes

This week, there has been a whole lot of doom and gloom in the UK energy market. Harbour Energy announced 250 job cuts in Aberdeen, Ørsted discontinued its Hornsea 4 offshore wind project, and Drax opted not to bid for its Cruachan II in the Cap and Floor mechanism.
Up first, news reporter Mat Perry discusses the UK's largest oil and gas operator slashing 25% of its UK onshore headcount as it downgrades spending in the country. Aberdeen Features Lead Ryan Duff gives his two cents on the state of job losses in the north-east of Scotland and the wider North Sea, brace yourself for explicit language. 
Next up, Mat and renewables reporter Michael Behr discuss why Ørsted has pulled the hand brake on a major offshore wind project. Pumped storage hydro was also mentioned, as Cruachan II gives the cap and floor scheme a swerve after battery firms argued that the mechanism was biased towards such projects. 
And finally, Michael chats with Guy Newey, chief executive officer at the Energy Systems Catapult about the ever-divisive zonal pricing debate and how it could help drive innovation in the energy sector.

EVOL: Scotland's 'wrath', BP and Equinor Q1s, and Octopus defends zonal pricing

This week Scotland's only oil refinery ceased production, prompting outrage from unions that forecast the "wrath" of voters in next year's Holyrood election, European supermajors BP and Equinor unveiled their Q1 results and Octopus Energy's CEO defended his zonal pricing views. 
Up first, Aberdeen features lead Ryan Duff discusses the closure of Grangemouth's oil refinery and its political ramifications, while news reporter Mathew Perry asks about the implications for the Acorn CCS project which is yet to see certainty. With the Scotland carbon capture project caught in limbo questions are asked of the future of Scottish industry. 
Renewables reporter Michael Behr has been the man on the markets this week as he kept an eye on Equinor and BP's books. The Energy Voice Out Loud presenting trio play a game of Good News, Bad News and they debate whether the first quarter reports were positive or as one analyst said, "disappointing".
Finally, Energy Voice has been at the Innovation zero conference in the capital as London correspondent Jessica Davies chats with Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson as he defended his views on zonal pricing. He has been a supporter of the structure that will see Scotland's energy prices plummet, however, others have said that the move would impact the economic viability of wind projects in the country. 

EVOL: HyNet approval, decarbonisation, and GB Energy's £300m

This week, Energy Voice’s intrepid reporters Mat and Mike explored the recent announcement that the government is set to approve Eni’s HyNet carbon capture and storage project. The deal comes with financial support for the Track 1 project, and adds momentum to the UK’s CCS journey.
We also catch up with news editor Erikka, who was at the North Sea Decarbonisation conference this week, finding out all about how the UK needs to reshape its industries, create new partnerships and generate sustainable jobs to secure a greener future. 
And back in the studio, Mike and Mat chat about the £300m coming from GB Energy to invest in the UK’s offshore wind supply chains. But is this a strong enough signal for the sector, which has seen mixed signals coming from the government?

EVOL: Courting wood, grid zombies and Easter wake loss

This week Wood provided updates on Sidara's proposed £250 million takeover, NESO declared war on zombies in the grid queue, and Equinor and Orsted warned of the impacts of wake loss.
Aberdeen-headquartered Wood received a non-binding takeover bid from Dubai-based rival Sidara worth £250m, a significant drop-off compared to last year's £1.5 billion bid. Our reporters discuss this, Wood's shares being suspended and them impacts of yet another Scottish company being bought over by international competitors. 
Next up, the UK's National Energy System Operator (NESO) unveiled plans to get rid of 'zombies' from the grid queue in a collaboration with regulator Ofgem. This could see up to 360GW of projects on the current queue have their contracts downgraded because they are not ready. What does this mean and is it a result of too much dithering from the UK?
Finally, European energy giants Equinor and Orsted have said offshore wind revenues could take a £363m hit due to other projects getting in the way of their turbines. Although those in the Tour de France peloton don't mind the frontrunner taking the brunt of the wind resistance, turbine operators do. Does industry need to share its survey results so all can benefit from the North Sea breeze? 

EVOL: Neo Next speculation, Kistos' island plans, and HAR2 just has to be good

This week we got further updates on the Neo Energy and Repsol tie-up, Kistos' full year results for 2024 and the results of HAR2. Energy Voice's Ryan Duff, Erikka Askeland and Mat Perry discuss.
First up, what's happening at Flotta? Erikka chats about the gas terminal's hydrogen plans and what attracted Neo Energy's private equity backers to the Spanish firm's UK division. Ryan argues that tax incentives from Repsol's extensive decommissioning liabilities may be the answer. 
Next up, Ryan discusses Kistos and its plans to expand the Greater Laggan Area off the west coast of Shetland. The firm has brought attention to the Glendronach field now that operatorship of the area is changing hands. When talking about gas, there has to be a Trump, the trio discusses how US policy is impacting global oil and gas firms. 
Finally, Mat chats about hydrogen and the results of HAR2. Was it perfect? No, but maybe it doesn't need to be. He discusses some of the talking points from a recent conference in Birmingham, which touched on getting hydrogen "good" but it doesn't need to be "perfect" in order to unlock investment. Price is still a sticking point for this fuel source but the government is aiming to tackle this too. 

EVOL X COMET: From criminal to industrial investigations

For 30 years Alan Smith, now head of investigations at COMET, served in the police before turning his attention to industrial investigations.  
Smith sat down with Energy Voice Aberdeen features lead, Ryan Duff, to discuss his career in the police, his shift to the private sector and how his approach to investigations had to change when he left law enforcement.  
“I knew instinctively that when my police career came to an end that I was going to move into the world of industry investigations,” said Smith. 
The self-proclaimed “career investigator” joined what was then called Grampian Police, where he became a detective. Investigating incidents in the North Sea fell under his remit while in the police, something that set him up for a life in industrial investigations. 
Smith’s career post-police work has taken him to various places around the globe to investigate a range of incidents. Listen to Alan Smith’s full conversation with Energy Voice.

Net zero in jeopardy

Stuart Broadley, chief executive, Energy Industries Council (EIC) has called for an “adult conversation” and “honesty” to admit the UK won’t meet it legal obligation to become net zero by 2050 nor will it meet interim low carbon targets in 2030. However, embracing this reality risks a tumbling a “house of cards” of consequences.
Tune into this hard-hitting interview to find out why, instead, the UK must embrace “all energy sectors” or else the economy will a face a severe jobs crisis with entire clean energy sectors such as hydrogen at risk of never happening.

EVOL: Petrofac’s $500m contract, hydrogen and the Net Zero Innovation show

In this week’s episode of Energy Voice Out Loud, Ryan, Mat and Michael discuss Petrofac’s recent $500m contract award. Is it what the company, and the North Sea services sector in general, need to turn their fortunes around? Both could do with some good news.
And then we heard from Mat, who travelled down to Birmingham this week for the Hydrogen UK annual conference, and spoke to the organisation's chief executive Clare Jackson about how the UK sector has progressed in the past year.
And finally, Erikka was at NZTC's Net Zero Innovation show in Aberdeen and spoke to Mark Anderson, chief acceleration officer at the Net Zero Technology Centre, Paul Pirrie, co-founder of show exhibitor and TechX program graduate Myriad Wind Energy Systems, North Sea legend and UK Technology Platform director Colin Black and last but definitely not least Paul Addison, director of policy and external affairs for GB Energy. 

EVOL: More North Sea merger mania

This week’s episode was rocked by the announcement Repsol was merging its North Sea assets with private-equity backed Neo Energy. Energy Voice reporter Mathew Perry explains this is part of a trend for operators to distance themselves from the basin including Shell and Equinor, while Michael Behr confirms this the supply chain is also making marriages of convenience.
One of the big North Sea buyers has been Ithaca Energy, which last year combined with Eni which in turn had absorbed Neptune Energy. Now they are looking at reviving the fortunes of West of Shetland’s Cambo, the basin’s second largest undeveloped oil and gas find and green campaigner bogeyman.
Lastly, news editor Erikka Askeland tackles Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spring statement that wasn’t, at least for the energy industry, and asks if it’s possible for the UK to claim to be a superpower of both clean energy as well as the defence industry.