The First Minister John Swinney MSP officially opened Scotland's largest Energy Transition Skills Hub in Aberdeen.

The brand new £10 million facility, built on the site of a former dilapidated dairy, features a state-of-the-art welding academy, an advanced manufacturing zone, and future technology digital training suites. It is the transformational anchor project of the Skills Campus within the city's Energy Transition Zone (ETZ).

The Hub is expected to support 1,000 people into jobs with a focus on energy transition in its first five years of operation. The high demand for these skills is evidenced by North East Scotland College (NESCol), which confirmed 42 welding students and 27 engineering students are already undertaking training this academic year.

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Funding and Impact

The project was led by ETZ Ltd and secured significant backing through a private-public sector partnership model. Key funding contributions included:

• Scottish Government Just Transition Fund: £4.5 million

• Shell UK: £1.8 million

• NESCol: £500,000

• ECITB (engineering skills body): £400,000

• SSEN (transmission networks provider): £150,000

First Minister John Swinney said: "The Scottish Government's Just Transition Fund has been central to the development of the Energy Transition Skills Hub, a magnificent facility that will support our existing workforce alongside fostering the skills of the next generation of industry leaders."

Sir Ian Wood, ETZ Ltd Chair, noted that the facility will be crucial for equipping current and future generations with the skills necessary to forge long and successful careers in the transition to a low carbon economy, which is vital given that 75% of Scotland's total installed and planned offshore wind pipeline is within 100 nautical miles of Aberdeen.