Mark Williamson

2 days ago | heraldscotland.com | Mark Williamson

He is confident that these will help Cerulean play a pioneering role in the development of an industry that could attract huge inward investment to Scotland and create thousands of valuable jobs. Floating wind seemed a natural move for Mr Jackson following long stints developing oil and gas structures offshore around world. After years in which offshore renewables investment focused on turbines fixed to the seabed, he thinks it makes obvious sense to shift to floating developments.

5 days ago | heraldscotland.com | Mark Williamson

However, the projects have been cast into uncertainty after cost increases and concerns about issues such as planning consents weakened the commercial appeal of schemes that would entail hefty upfront investment. Perth based SSE has held out the prospect the Coire Glas development could store enough power for three million homes. It would work by harnessing the power generated by the flow of water between two reservoirs that SSE plans to develop by Loch Lochy.

1 week ago | heraldscotland.com | Mark Williamson

In an operations update, the company told stock market investors: “We remain focused on delivering a material UK transaction in the short term,” adding that it is in “ongoing discussions with multiple UK counter-parties”. The company released the update weeks after abandoning a bid to acquire North Sea-focused Serica Energy, which has a stock market capitalisation of £565m.

2 weeks ago | heraldscotland.com | Mark Williamson

The warnings were reinforced this month after Harbour Energy said it planned to axe 250 jobs citing the continued challenging fiscal and regulatory environment. However, Ithaca Energy appears to have decided that the time is right to expand in the North Sea. The Israeli-owned firm revealed yesterday that it had agreed to acquire an additional 46.25% stake in the giant Cygnus field from Scottish Gas owner Centrica for around £115m.

2 weeks ago | heraldscotland.com | Mark Williamson

The deal will leave Israeli-owned Ithaca with an 85% stake in Cygnus, which it described as “the largest UK Continental Shelf gas field and a key contributor to the UK's energy security.” READ MORE: SNP Government oil hypocrisy shocking amid Scottish jobs cull Last year Centrica said Cygnus was expected to produce enough gas per day to meet the needs of around 1.9 million UK households. Centrica has highlighted the potential for the field to remain in production beyond 2030.