Post Budget stroll offers clarity
Reeves' Autumn budget was "not the apocalypse" for oil and gas as Labour laid out energy transition plans, writes Brian Wilson.
Brian Wilson
Rachel Reeves ‘difficult circle to square’ with energy finances
On the face of it, there is a paradox. Rachel Reeves has inherited a massive black hole in public spending. Large scale infrastructure projects are being cut, left, right and centre.
Potential challenges for the energy sector post election
By this weekend, only one poll will have mattered. The implications for the energy sector will be massive; for relative degrees of good or ill.
Should we care about ‘who powers Britain’ post-election?
You have to go back half a century since energy featured as a major General Election issue.
The dangers of setting unrealistic climate targets
The big bust-up at Holyrood needed a trigger point and that came when the SNP-Green administration formally dropped its target for a 75% cut in emissions from 1990 by 2030.
Time to bring net zero objectives into the realms of reality
The CCC has caught up on realities and is asking hard questions, writes Brian Wilson.
Are Labour’s windfall plans really a ‘death blow’?
It was all a bit odd at the Scottish Labour conference last month. A few days earlier, the oil and gas industry was shrieking outrage at Labour for proposing a windfall tax on gargantuan profits.
We can’t change China, so let’s keep a sense of proportion
The world is "disappointingly grey" in terms of energy production, writes Brian Wilson as he turns his attention to China's coal industry.
So far, there are not many signs of a ‘just transition’
The announcement from PetroIneos that Scotland’s only oil refinery at Grangemouth will close by 2025 can, one hopes, be reversed and time bought.
Is Scotland failing to see an LNG opportunity?
One of the many sub-plots in the saga of two uncompleted Caledonian MacBrayne ferries at the Ferguson yard in Port Glasgow involves the proposed use of Liquefied Natural Gas to part-fuel them.
The CfD process: ‘Out of adversity comes opportunity’
And so it came to pass …. I was writing here last month when the announcement on the latest Contract for Difference round was imminent and it appeared a distinct possibility that offshore developers would give it the cold shoulder. As indeed they did.
Turnover of UK energy chiefs an ‘absolute disgrace’, says former minister
A former UK Government minister has taken the current regime to task for repeatedly changing who is in charge of the energy brief.
Brian Wilson: Pumped hydro storage must be made a net-zero priority
Everyone likes anniversaries, so how about marking this one? On August 5th 1943, the Hydro-Development Act (Scotland) was given Royal Assent. Eighty years ago, at the height of war, the Government of the United Kingdom passed a momentous law directed mainly towards the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Brian Wilson: The North Sea is much bigger than the sum of its parts
Small is beautiful but it’s also nice to be part of something bigger. That applies to many aspects of life and is certainly a sound basis for energy policy which always has to be underpinned by security of supply.
Eliminate nuclear and gas? More questions than answers on Scotland’s baseload power
Brian Wilson takes a look at a recent Scottish Parliament committee, which had plenty of "possibilities and doubts" on the future but not a firm agenda on replacing Scotland's energy supply.
Brian Wilson: Some energy advice to an incoming First Minister
The contest to become leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland did not get off to an auspicious start. The first week was largely devoted to arguing about the place of God in politics.
Brian Wilson: Time to revamp UK’s outdated electricity market arrangements
While the country cries out for cheap electricity, it seems perverse to fork out hundreds of millions of pounds to pay wind farm operators not to generate electricity.
Western Isles Interconnector: A big (positive) change from Ofgem
It is not the snappiest of titles but Ofgem’s Decisions on the new Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) strategy may come to be seen as a landmark document in the evolution of Britain’s energy industry and the Scottish economy.
Brian Wilson: Starmer’s Great British Energy proposal is sign of the times
A month is indeed a long time in politics. Since I last wrote here, we have a new Prime Minister, a crashing pound and an unprecedented scale of intervention in the energy markets in an effort to stave off the worst impacts of impending price rises.
Brian Wilson: Energy crisis met with policy vacuum
It’s a couple of months since I suggested the energy crisis would be as big as Covid and thereby demand the same scale of response. It wasn’t a very fashionable thought but perceptions have moved rapidly – everywhere, except where it matters most, in government.
Brian Wilson: Western Isles’ power generation hopes hit once again
Last month, when the much anticipated announcement was made of winners and losers under the Contracts for Difference scheme, it seemed the 20 year struggle for the Western Isles to be connected for generation purposes to the National Grid had finally prevailed.
Brian Wilson: Setting climate targets is one thing, meeting them is another
Setting targets is one thing and meeting them is another. That is the underlying message on which the latest, highly sceptical report by the Committee on Climate Change is built.
Ex-Scottish and UK ministers sign ‘unprecedented’ political declaration backing oil and gas
An "unprecedented" declaration has been signed by five former UK and Scottish Government ministers urging support for the oil and gas industry.
An obscure (and underestimated) oil city at the heart of the old Soviet industry…
A ministerial visit that’s long stuck in my mind was to a city called Khanty-Mansiysk far to the north in Siberia. You haven’t heard of it? Well, join a very large club to which I belonged before going there.
Energy reality bites as Ukraine crisis unfolds
The madness in Ukraine has dramatically fast-forwarded issues that were already in the making. Soaring energy prices, over-reliance on imported gas, storage which is essential to facilitate the growth of renewables … the list goes on and on.