Energy Voice – Out Loud

This week, Energy Voice Out Loud (EVOL) looks at the UK's spending review as Scottish energy secretary Gillian Martin says "we need more welders", and a former oil worker writes to Nigel Farage for support.  First up, the EVOL trio of Aberdeen features lead Ryan Duff, reporter Mat Perry, and E-FWD editor Ed Reed discuss Westminster's support for Acorn. It finally happened, the UK government committed to stumping up cash for the Acorn and Viking CCS projects, however, its spending review document was a little light on details. It's worth noting that after this week's recording session, Ed Miliband appeared in Peterhead to announce £200m for Acron. Next up, news editor Erikka Askeland spoke with Gillian Martin about the importance of welders in the energy transition as the first cohort of learners on a welding and fabrication pilot training scheme graduated as part of a £100,000 program funded by Ocean Winds. Finally, we discuss Reform UK and its support for nuclear (which seems to be aligned with Labour's love of reactors) and its disdain for turbines. However, when Reform gets into power, is it really as against the "utter madness" of net zero as leader Nigel Farage lets on?

The third episode of Energy Voice’s Gigawaters series explores the next phase of the UK’s offshore wind rollout – the new processes and systems needed to meet future challenges. EV renewables reporter Michael Behr is joined by The Crown Estate managing director for marine Gus Jaspert and Orsted UK country manager Benj Sykes to explore how offshore wind can work in a busy North Sea. The needs of fishing, shipping and defence; coastal communities; and of course, the environment, all need to be considered for projects to work in harmony with ocean users. They discuss how the UK needs to adopt a more systematic approach to reaching the UK’s clean energy goals ahead of 2030, and how all sides need to interact to ensure the country maintains its lead in offshore wind.

This week, news editor Erikka Askeland and Aberdeen features lead Ryan Duff attended the Energy Industries Council's (EIC) Energy Exports Conference in Aberdeen.   The show provided insight into how the UK is stacking up to other nations in the energy transition as Bureau Veritas launched its latest report and Aberdeen's Blazewe was honoured at an awards dinner.    Erikka spoke with Ann Johnson, director of Blaze Manufacturing Solutions, about the award and her firm's journey to it, as well as plans for the North Sea and further afield. Next, Erikka caught up with Verlume CEO Richard Knox to talk about his business' export opportunities as he looks to capitalise on recent success.   Ryan McPherson, EIC's regional director and general manager for the Middle East, Africa and CIS, joined us in our Aberdeen studio ahead of the event to share his insights.    Finally, Ryan spoke with EIC CEO Stuart Broadley about his key takeaways from the event on its last day. He said that some of the solutions to the UK's policy problems may be able to be found by looking to other nations and their approach to the energy transition.

In this podcast, recorded live on the show floor of the Energy Exports Conference, Energy Voice Out Loud speaks with Bureau Veritas about its role as the event's Strategic Partner and the launch of the Energy Transition Forum. Aberdeen Features Lead Ryan Duff speaks with market lead for renewable energy and major projects (CCS), Darren Taylor, and energy and engineering director, Sammy Tweddle. The trio discuss pessimistic energy transition sentiment in the face of back-to-back record-breaking years for renewables roll out, offshore wind supply chain constraints and  the UK nuclear sector's permitting woes.

In this special EVOL X Sproule ERCE podcast, Energy Voice reporter Mathew Perry is joined by Sproule ERCE decarbonisation lead Ellen Mitchell, and CCS principal and reservoir engineer Andy Moore to explore the current landscape of carbon capture and storage (CCS). The discussion spans global policy drivers like carbon pricing and climate goals, technical subsurface considerations such as capacity, injectivity and containment, and the challenges still facing the industry from cost and regulation to synchronising capture and storage infrastructure. With insights from landmark projects and expert analysis, the episode unpacks what’s shaping the CCS sector across Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific.