There’s a growing movement in Aberdeen for the region to lead the transition from Big Oil to Big Energy, using its deep-sea expertise to construct floating wind farms alongside offshore rigs.
“I think 2015 was the wake-up call that Aberdeen actually needed to say, ‘This ain’t going to be around forever,'” said Russell Borthwick, the local chamber of commerce’s chief executive. “When the oil price comes back, you [can] go back to just cigar smoking, wine drinking — ‘life’s great in Aberdeen isn’t it’ — but one day you’re going to wake up and there’s going to be nothing left.”
But it’s not yet evident whether the North Sea can successfully pivot away from its oil roots and serve up a model for the rest of the world. Companies in the region are determined to keep drilling. They say that money from oil and gas is essential to fund new renewable investments, and emphasize that the…
