BP's UK head of country has challenged industry and government to slash the time it takes to deliver low-carbon projects.

Louise Kingham, who is also the energy giant's senior vice president for Europe, told this week’s Energy Exports Conference that "we need to go a lot quicker" in order to hit net-zero targets.

Energy Voice says speed of delivery was a key theme of the first day of the Energy Industries Council (EIC) event in Aberdeen.

Leading entrepreneur Sir Ian Wood warned there is a "real danger” of bureaucratic delays hampering the deployment of renewables.

And that could act as a serious barrier to the UK Government's target to zero-out emissions by 2050.

EIC Chief Executive Stuart Broadley also flagged concerns that had been raised about "10-year delays to projects", to which Ms Kingham replied, "we need to half that at least".

Great conversations

She added: "The regulatory organisations and government departments, which we work with and have some great conversations with, understand and appreciate that is what needs to be done.

"They hear that very clearly from me and from many others. We know what a lot of the answers are to start improving on pace, and we need to go a lot quicker.

"You can control it to some degree absolutely, but part of the challenge with the transition is that there is an awful lot to do, at significant scale, very quickly."

In order to help accelerate the pace of transition, Ms Kingham said there was a need for "bravery in the decision making" by those that sculpt the "ecosystem" for developers and supply chain.

Global leader opportunity

At the end of March, Ms Kingham stated that Aberdeen has an opportunity to become the global leader in offshore wind.

She said the Granite City's appetite for energy transition was unmatched, and that the foundations were also being laid for a world class hydrogen sector.

Addressing business leaders at P&J Live, Ms Kingham said that the transition would be built upon "reliable" oil and gas projects.

She described the North Sea as the "jewel in the crown" of BP's hydrocarbon portfolio, and that the firm saw "considerable growth opportunities" in the basin.

More like this…

View all