Spirit Energy’s boss has called for an energy secretary to join the new government in order so the sector has a “voice at the table”.
Speaking at an event in Aberdeen, Spirit Energy chief executive Neil McCulloch said if he was the Prime Minister he would “appoint a secretary of state for energy, and I would create a department of energy”.
He was responding from a panel discussion during the launch of Offshore Energies UK’s (OEUK) latest economic report.
Chair Jenny Stanning, external relations director for OEUK, had asked: “If you could have one thing that the new prime minister, the new secretary of state, delivers, what would it be?
This follows the new prime minister forming her government Tuesday night, in which she appointed Jacob Rees-Mogg as the business secretary, who will also oversee the energy office.
Mr McCulloch continued: “We have lots of other secretary of states for things that are important, but energy literally causes everything in humanity to happen.
“Why has energy not come to the table? Liz has said she wants to drive growth, well, tell me how growth happens without energy.
“She also wants to ‘deliver, deliver, deliver’ – all of these things need energy behind them so there needs to be a voice at the table.”
Accelerating renewables
The panel also discussed accelerating approvals of energy sites, tying back to OEUK’s recent report on offshore wind that found nearly half of the UK offshore wind projects needed to reach 2030 net zero targets are only at the concept stage.
A number of the panellists agreed that the UK government must cut down the time it takes to receive approval on renewable energy sites.
Sarah Cridland, vice president of commercial & subsea projects UK, Mediterranean & Caspian, & country manager UK at TechnipFMC, said: “My ask would be to look at accelerating approvals.
“That really needs to get done to give people some surety of revenue and future work that will allow them to put in the investment, and to make sure we can actually execute everything there in a shorter time scale.”
Mr McCulloch also said the government also needed to increase the number of carbon capture and storage projects, such as Acorn in Peterhead.
“We need so many gigatonnes of carbon dioxide storage, so save a little bit of time and effort by having ten projects rather than two, and have them geographically diverse around the UK.
“We have the best geography, the best skills and with a very willing government. We need to come up with a coherent energy plan that will last us to 2025, that’s one milestone, and there’s 2050 when we get to net zero.”
‘Help us help you’
OEUK’s market intelligence manager Ross Dornan rounded off the session, calling on the new government cabinet to: “Help us help you.”
He added: “Promote investment, and recognise the role of our industry in terms of its resources.
“Build consensus, this is potentially a two-year government but we’re in a 30-year energy transition, there have to be enduring policies to get us through that process.”
Acting chief executive Mike Tholen opened the event with a call for the UK to launch a national effort to cut energy demand, promoting measures like home insulation, heat pumps and hydrogen, alongside maintaining its own oil and gas resources.
He added: “The reality is that, for the last five decades, this industry has been the best partner any government could have wanted.
“We have supplied the nation with oil and gas – and billions of pounds in taxes,
in fact approaching £385 billion over these last 50 years.
“And there is more to come – this year alone, our industry will boost Treasury coffers by another estimated £15bn.
“Our partnership – not just with the UK government but also with the British people – is one we are proud of.
“Now, more than ever, as we face this crisis, our politicians, and industries, must work together to address the challenges we face.”
Watch OEUK’s Economic Report: A Focus on UK Energy Security video here:
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