Representatives of the oil and gas industry said last night there was no “adversarial feelings” between the sector and renewable energy businesses – but cast doubt on whether the Scottish Government targets could be met.
Tom Smith, chairman and founder of oil and gas company Nessco, said service firms in the sector “undoubtedly” saw renewables as an opportunity.
“The problem is knowing what the timeline for investment will be,” he said.
“I am not talking down renewables, but you can see the opportunities in the oil and gas industry – we need a little more certainty on the timescale of future investment in renewables projects. There are certainly no adversarial feelings though, the industries are a lot more supportive of each other than that.”
Jim Milne, chairman and managing director of engineering firm Balmoral Group, said he had been involved in both the fossil fuel and renewable energy sectors for years.
He said: “Without doubt the renewable energy industry can learn a lot from the oil and gas sector and will play a major role in satisfying our energy requirements in the future. 100% reliability on renewable resources by 2020 is cloud-cuckoo land, however.”
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