Aberdeen City and Shire’s unique energy development corridor, Energetica, is powering ahead with news that 30% of the £750 million investment potential is now underway.

This takes account of the development of almost 600 acres of new business space, master-planning for Energetica’s new villages, port and leisure developments at Peterhead and offshore renewable projects.

Stretching from the city’s Bridge of Don to Peterhead in the north and to the airport in the west, Energetica is a new business, leisure and residential destination built on low carbon, highly sustainable principles. It aims to attract global energy companies and highly skilled people to the region, helping Aberdeen City and Shire retain and build on its existing energy credentials, expand into more sustainable energy sectors and enhance its quality of life.

As thousands of global energy experts and businesses descend on Aberdeen for Offshore Europe, the promoters of Energetica are launching the investment proposition which will be targeted at attracting companies with a particular focus on energy technology R&D, carbon capture and storage, offshore wind and marine renewables as well as offshore operations and maintenance and decommissioning.

Energetica project director, Sara Budge, said: “With the extent of these investments, Energetica has moved rapidly from concept to reality in the first five years of its 25 year vision. These investments underline the project’s potential to significantly grow the regional and Scottish economies and position Aberdeen City and Shire as the home of the next age of energy.

“The North Sea may be a mature province but fields are still being developed and will produce for many more years to come. However, we are moving into the next age of energy which will widen the current market opportunities to include enhanced oil and gas recovery, decommissioning, the use of depleted reservoirs for CO2 storage and offshore renewables, where subsea oil and gas excellence in Aberdeen City and Shire can be leveraged to fully exploit the potential.

“Energetica is now a very real, compelling proposition for global energy companies who will be attracted by projects such as the EOWDC, the commercial test site for floating wind turbines and the Peterhead power station CCS project and O&M and installation base.

“The business parks are the catalysts to unlocking the overall aspiration, they will help attract businesses who want to invest in high quality, low emission, energy efficient buildings in three main development areas, totalling around 590 acres ”

These include a low carbon technology park at Berryhill; two business parks in the Aberdeen Airport Development Zone, the Energetica industry park at Peterhead and  a business campus at Ellon .

Combined this represents over £250 million with the potential to create hundreds of new jobs. This is in addition to the £34 million of developments around Peterhead port and the £12 million investment in the newly branded Innovation and Energy Parks at the Bridge of Don.

Energetica will link a string of highly attractive and distinct business and residential developments within the corridor, including Trump International Golf Links. New transport links will be created, including a unifying green network of coastal and inland footpaths and cycleways.

Feasibility studies have commenced into energy solutions for the future such as the hydrogen loop project. Research work is being tendered to explore the feasibility of geothermal and hydrogen for combined heat and power of buildings within Energetica. This could pave the way for the country’s first hydrogen highway and an Energetica Smart Grid System.

The Energetica place-making supplementary planning guidance is currently out for consultation. The aim of this guidance is to ensure that developments in the corridor are subject to planning design criteria that delivers high quality, energy efficient buildings in attractive landscaped settings.

Ms Budge added: “Energetica is based on the region’s inherent strengths in offshore marine engineering and the concentration of innovative companies this has spawned. It is designed using low carbon, energy efficient principles, sustainable sympathetic development and associated lifestyle quality to create a highly attractive location in which to live, work and invest. It is one of the most exciting and forward-thinking developments of its kind in Europe and will enable companies to accelerate their growth in this new energy era.”

Energetica is an ACSEF-led project. ACSEF (Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future) is a unique partnership between the public and private sectors which aims to achieve significant and sustainable economic growth and an enhanced quality of life through the delivery of projects and initiatives that focus on improving transport and connectivity, the attraction and development of skilled people, anchoring the energy industry, attracting inward investment, regenerating the city centre and streamlining the planning process.