I spent a few days in Aberdeen recently, and I came away with the distinct impression that the city’s energy transition is not going as smoothly as the politicians and industry leaders would have us believe. There’s a lot of talk about renewables, about offshore wind and hydrogen and a green future, but when you’re actually there, walking through the city and talking to people, the picture is more complicated.
Aberdeen is still, fundamentally, an oil and gas town. The harbour is full of supply vessels. The offices are full of engineers and geologists who’ve spent their careers in the North Sea. The whole economy is built around hydrocarbons, and you can’t just flip a switch and turn that into something else overnight. But that’s what we’re being told is happening, and it’s not quite true.
The Renewable Rhetoric
Don’t get me wrong, there is renewable energy activity in Aberdeen. Companies are pivoting, investment is flowing into offshore wind, and there’s genuine enthusiasm for the potential of green hydrogen. But the scale is nowhere near what’s needed to replace the oil and gas industry, and the timeline is much longer than anyone wants to admit.
I spoke to a few people who work in the energy sector, and the consensus was clear: the transition is happening, but slowly, and with a lot of uncertainty. Jobs are being lost in oil and gas faster than they’re being created in renewables. Skills don’t always transfer neatly. And there’s a real concern that Aberdeen could end up being left behind, caught between a declining industry and a renewable sector that hasn’t quite taken off yet.
Real Companies, Real Challenges
You see it in the big players too. Shell, BP, TotalEnergies: they all have renewable energy divisions now, and they’re investing in Scottish projects. But they’re also still pumping oil and gas out of the North Sea, because that’s where the money is. The transition is a long game, and in the meantime, the fossil fuel industry is still very much alive.
Equinor is developing offshore wind farms off the Scottish coast, and that’s genuinely exciting. But those projects take years to build, and even when they’re operational, they won’t employ anywhere near the number of people that the oil rigs did. It’s a different kind of industry, with different skills and different economics.
What Happens Next?
The truth is, nobody really knows what Aberdeen will look like in 20 years. The optimistic view is that it becomes a global hub for offshore renewables, leading the way in wind and hydrogen technology. The pessimistic view is that it becomes a shadow of itself, a city that lost its main industry and never quite found a replacement.
I’m not saying the transition shouldn’t happen. It has to. Climate change is real, and we need to move away from fossil fuels. But we also need to be honest about what that means for places like Aberdeen. The transition is slower, messier, and more painful than anyone in power is willing to admit. And pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone.
