Investing in the Aberdeen City region: A hub of innovation and opportunity

wide shot of wind turbines in the middle of the sea

The Aberdeen City region is a vibrant, entrepreneurial location, home to a unique mix of business opportunities and a wealth of skills and knowledge across a range of sectors.

Located in the north-east of Scotland, the Aberdeen City region is at the forefront of the global energy transition, leading the world on a rapid shift to net-zero by leveraging the region’s unique assets and capabilities.

Why Aberdeen?

The Aberdeen City region has a long history of innovation and discovery – from subsea technology to the invention of the first MRI scanner.

With a rapidly growing hydrogen economy, Aberdeen is the UK’s leading hydrogen city. The city hosts 85 hydrogen vehicles, including the world’s first hydrogen double-decker bus, and two publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations.

The Aberdeen City region has moved seamlessly into scientific, engineering, digital and low-carbon specialisms. The region has one of the largest concentrations of life scientists in Europe and the largest biologics cluster in the UK after Cambridge.

As well as being the home of the world-renowned Aberdeen-Angus cattle, Europe’s largest seafood catches are landed at Peterhead Port and Fraserburgh Harbour. The region is also home to food and drink brands enjoyed around the world, contributing an estimated 20% of Scotland’s food and drink industry output.

Regional Economic Strategy: Securing Aberdeen’s Future

The Aberdeen City region, like many others, is undergoing a period of significant change. Home to key players in the energy sector, the region is responding urgently to the climate emergency.

At the core of its transformation is the Regional Economic Strategy (RES), a joint plan set out by Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council and Opportunity North East. The Strategy outlines a long-term plan of investment for the north-east to transform its economy over the next decade and beyond.

A crucial component of the strategy is to keep pace with the constantly changing economic environment and ensure the region’s ambitions are aligning with global shifts in priority.

The strategy harnesses decades of expertise in offshore energy production and puts the region at the forefront of Scotland’s just transition to net-zero and climate resilience.

Ensuring a Just Transition

hydrogen double-decker bus parked in front of Marischal College in Aberdeen city — Aberdeen hosts the world’s first hydrogen double-decker bus.

As the energy sector evolves, a just transition remains a key priority for the region. Oil and gas will continue to be a significant source of energy for the foreseeable future, requiring a balance between transition and continuity.

While the North Sea remains a key player in the oil and gas industry, the region is also investing heavily in net-zero technology, building low-carbon infrastructure and supporting a just transition to net-zero by reskilling and upskilling the regional workforce.

With this transition, it’s essential that workers have access to new skills, training opportunities and ultimately jobs to ensure the region is retaining and attracting employment, as well as meeting the demands of the evolving energy industry.

The north-east is in a prime position to leverage the foundation of its oil and gas sector to capitalise on new opportunities in the North Sea.

The Aberdeen City region has a highly educated and skilled workforce. 80% of all UK direct oil and gas employment is in north-east Scotland, and over 90% of the UK’s oil and gas workforce have medium to high skills transferability and are well positioned to work in adjacent energy sectors, making the north-east a key energy transition region.

Energy Transition Zone

Founded in 2021, ETZ Ltd is a private sector-led, not-for-profit company. ETZ was created to drive forward the vision of transforming the north-east to become a global leader in energy transition activities, as well as a net exporter of energy transition technologies and skills.

At the core of ETZ Ltd is the ambition to deliver the Energy Transition Zone, a purpose-built net-zero green space, connected to the North Sea coastline and adjacent to Port of Aberdeen’s newly completed £420 million South Harbour.

The 250-hectare site will be a leading-edge catalyst for innovation and high-value manufacturing, a centre of excellence for offshore floating wind farm technology, and other offshore renewables, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.

Offshore Wind Opportunities

three wind turbines in the middle of the sea — European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC)

The north-east is one of the most attractive locations in Europe to develop and accelerate low-carbon projects and activities, particularly offshore wind.

Crown Estate Scotland recently awarded ScotWind and INTOG (Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas) licensing to offshore wind projects in the region. ScotWind projects include fixed and floating fields with a total capacity of 27.6GW. Three-quarters of the fields are within 100 nautical miles of Aberdeen and a number of the licence holders have already committed to locating significant offshore wind operation centres in the region, demonstrating the north-east’s potential to become a global player in offshore wind technologies.

In addition, the Moray East Offshore Wind Farm operations and maintenance centre is now based at Fraserburgh Harbour. With 100 turbines, the Moray East offshore wind farm is the largest operational wind farm in Scotland, with enough output to supply clean energy to more than 40% of Scottish households.

These opportunities will significantly improve investment and supply chain opportunities in the north-east, as well as help decarbonise North Sea oil and gas operations.

Acorn: Carbon Capture and Storage

Located at the St Fergus gas terminal, the Acorn project is Scotland’s first carbon capture and storage facility. The facility will repurpose legacy oil and gas infrastructure to transport captured industrial CO2 to a safe, permanent storage location under the North Sea. The project is expected to create 21,000 jobs in the first phase of development.

The Acorn project was recently awarded Track 2 status of the UK Government’s Carbon Capture, Usage Storage cluster sequencing process. This achievement will help accelerate the support and delivery of the project and bring Scotland and the UK closer to meeting its carbon reduction targets.

Invest in Aberdeen

bird's eye view of of Peterhead Port — Peterhead Port

The Aberdeen City region is a world-class business location with a rich industrial, commercial and international heritage, and now more than ever it is imperative to meet global demands and secure a better future for the region and wider.

Almost £16 billion of public and private infrastructure investment is due to be delivered across the north-east over the next decade.

This is a region with big ambition and a global outlook, and Invest Aberdeen is on hand to welcome your business here.

To find out more about investment opportunities in the Aberdeen City region, contact the Invest Aberdeen team. Email EnquiriesIA@investaberdeen.co.uk or visit Invest Aberdeen’s website.