Investments in Scotland's growing renewables industry have proven the strength of close working between public and private sectors, Alex Salmond said today as he announced details of a two-day global green finance conference to be held in Edinburgh in September.

The Scottish Low Carbon Investment conference will take place on September 27th and 28th following the success of last year's inaugural event, attended by around 550 delegates from government, low carbon industries and the financial sectors.

The First Minister announced details of the event in an address at the annual conference of the Scottish European Green Energy Centre (SEGEC), where he also welcomed a Skills Investment Plan for the energy industry - where as many as 95,000 potential job opportunities have been identified across sectors, including up to 28,000 in offshore wind.

He said: "SEGEC has played a key role in placing Scotland at the heart of EU networks and debates on renewables, carbon capture & storage and energy infrastructure. It has helped secure over 100 million euros EU funding for key projects such as the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre in Aberdeen and the Moray Firth node - one of the building blocks of the future North Sea Grid.

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"The economic opportunity in renewables is clear - with the value of the sector in Scotland now estimated to rise from £2.6 billion in 2007-08 to as much as £3.2 billion by 2013-14. The wider low carbon market is expected to rise from around £8.5 billion in 2007-08 to £12 billion by 2015-16 - over 10 per cent of the Scottish economy - and this potential was the focus of last year's Low Carbon Investment conference.

"The event enabled government, international finance, utilities and developers to engage directly on investment opportunities, while further raising Scotland's profile in the global low carbon economy. In the five months since then, our renewables sector has seen significant investment announcements by leading international manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Gamesa and ABB, and continued success of Scottish companies."

Commenting on the Energy Skills Investment Plan, the First Minister added: "As many as 95,000 potential job opportunities have been identified across all sectors of the energy industry. However, that will require continued investment in the skills and talents of our people. That is why I have already announced, last week, that up to £1 million will be made available to provide as many as 500 modern apprenticeships in our energy and low carbon sectors over this next year.

"That is only a starting point, however. And I call upon all partners - those in our colleges, universities, local government, industry and beyond - to work together to prioritise our efforts and investment so we can continue to deliver a world class energy workforce for Scotland."

The 2011 SLCI conference will again be organised by Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce with the support of Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government.

(GK)