Net cast wide to capture prize catch at Peterhead Port

Fishing will, of course, continue to be of major importance to Peterhead, says John Wallace, the retired former CEO of the Port, and now acting CEO while the Authority goes through a selection process for the post. He points out that 2023 was the Port’s best ever year for fish landings. 

Above, Acting CEO John Wallace

“We have a proud record as Europe’s largest fishing port. However, in the light of the steady decline of the oil and gas industry in the North Sea, we have taken a strategic look at where we should be positioning ourselves with respect to the UK’s transition to low-carbon energy,” he comments. 

Stephen Paterson, Chief Financial Officer at the Authority, pictured above,  explains that the Port sees three major opportunities ahead. “We’re looking in particular at playing our part in the floating wind build-out that is coming, as well as the much-talked-about hydrogen revolution and alternative fuels production. 

“Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the third of these opportunities and is of great interest to us. The injection of captured CO2 into depleted oil and gas reservoirs is widely recognised as one of the most effective routes of storing carbon. Geographically, Peterhead is better positioned than virtually any other UK port, given our proximity to depleted North Sea oil fields that have the right characteristics to act as carbon storage reservoirs,” he comments. 

In light of this, the Port Authority recently recruited Keith Mackie as its Business Development Manager, focused on energy transition opportunities. 

Business Development manager Keith Mackie

Carbon capture has been talked about for years as one of the avenues for helping the UK and Scotland to get to Net Zero emissions. Mackie points out that it represents one of the more powerful ways of enabling heavy industry to decarbonise. 

In all, the UK currently has some 50 carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects planned with an implementation timeframe of around 2030. Scotland has a major share of these projects. It is hard to overstate the importance of CCUS to Scotland’s Net Zero plans. 

Stuart Haszeldine, director of Scottish CCUS, and professor of CCS at the University of Edinburgh said recently that Scotland’s chances of reaching Net Zero without carbon capture are ‘less than zero’. 

Paterson points to the Acorn Project which focuses on both CCS and Hydrogen and has a key place in Scotland’s CCUS Cluster. The project is a joint venture drawing on the expertise of Storegga, Shell UK, Harbour Energy and North Sea Midstream Partners. 

Acorn CCS reuses legacy oil and gas infrastructure to recapture industrial CO2 from the Scottish Cluster, a collection of industrial, power and hydrogen businesses in the Central Belt and North East Scotland. The idea is to transport the CO2 to permanent storage reservoirs under the North Sea. 

“We think it very likely that we will have a CO2 import terminal constructed in our area within the next five years. Once that happens we hope to attract large flows from areas of the UK, such as Wales, that do not have potential permanent carbon storage sites anywhere near them,” Paterson says. 
Wallace adds that there are considerable grounds for anticipating that CCS will be a high-volume market in the near future. 

“The UK and Norway between them have 90 percent of the CCS capacity for the whole of Europe. Following recent new investment from The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Storegga will be able to further progress projects such as the Acorn CCS project, so we are reasonably confident it will happen for Peterhead. We anticipate volumes of around nine million tonnes per annum.”

Mackie adds that the Port also anticipates playing a long-term role in the operation and maintenance of the coming generation of offshore wind farms. 

Peterhead does not have the huge laydown areas and space that some ports have, so it won’t be looking to take a leading role in the fabrication and assembly of large floating wind farms. But smaller assembly tasks would be very feasible, Paterson adds. 

He points out that Peterhead will be looking to build collaborative offerings with other ports.

“The idea is that we can combine with one or more ports to put together really attractive propositions for developers that make the most of our respective strengths as ports. We are already having these conversations and they are going well,” he comments. 

Wallace adds that the Peterhead Port Authority has already shown its capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. 

“As we move forward, the strategy is to develop the port and position it so that it will be useable by multiple customers in a variety of trades. 

“As these opportunities become more concrete, we will invest in the infrastructure that our clients will require,” he notes.

Work is ongoing to develop a port Masterplan, jointly with logistics company ASCO which owns the South Base in the port. 

This is considering the additional port infrastructure developments and reconfiguration required to service future trade opportunities. This is expected to include quayside extensions which could be operational by 2027.

Paterson points out that Peterhead’s new fish market, completed just prior to the onset of the global pandemic, shows how the Authority approaches strategic investment decisions. 

“That was a £50 million investment which doubled the size of our existing fish market. It took three years of preparation and doubled the number of boxes of fish that could be accommodated to 10,000. 

“It has been a huge success and was a tremendous asset through Covid as 
its size enabled us to meet safety separation requirements while keeping the market open.”  

www.peterheadport.co.uk
 

• This article was brought to you in association with Peterhead Port