STUC general secretary Roz Foyer hit out yesterday at missed Scottish government targets for a just energy transition.

The trade union federation’s research shows that some 16,000 jobs have been lost in the sector, with the benefits of the renewable programme being missed by Scottish workers.

In 2021, offshore wind generated £2.4 billion in turnover, yet the jobs created in the industry fell from seven jobs per £1 million of turnover in 2014 to just one job per £1m.

Oil and gas companies have enjoyed a cash bonanza in recent months, with BP and Shell posting record profits while fuel poverty continues to grow.

Trade unions pointed to municipally owned power generation, such as North Ayrshire’s solar and wind farm, as a practical demonstration of how a transition could be delivered in a way that mean surpluses are reinvested in communities, rather that distributed to shareholders.

The STUC research highlights what it calls a “litany of missed Scottish government targets for jobs in renewable energy, with 2021 figures for offshore wind showing 3,100 jobs as opposed to a potential 28,000 as set out in the 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland.”

Chiming in with this research, Congress called for “a publicly owned, democratically controlled energy sector, including public ownership of energy suppliers and transmission networks, the nationalisation of the oil and gas sector and a public energy company to lead the green energy revolution with guarunteed jobs and no loss of pay and conditions for workers moving from fossil fuels to renewables.”

Congress agreed that government needed to up its game to decarbonise and called for comprehensive public investment, from a nationally funded “municipal retrofit programme” to investment in energy-efficient council homes, creating jobs as the nation transitions.

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said: “The Scottish public are being sold a bad deal.

“Offshore wind companies are taking record profits for their shareholders while people in Scotland are being short-changed.  

“It’s a damning indictment of Scotland’s energy strategy, which has missed out on a potential 16,000 jobs in offshore wind.

“Working people demand better. Scotland’s wind should be ushering in quality work across the country and affordable energy for all.

“Instead of squandering these resources to shareholders, the Scottish government must establish a public energy company for the benefit of workers and communities.”