Ports are more than places where ships dock and depart. They are critical gateways for trade, investment, and innovation and therefore play a fundamental role in Scotland’s ambition to achieve sustainable economic and clean energy growth.
Renewable energy projects are transforming the energy and economic landscape of Scotland. Scottish ports play a pivotal role in energy transition, serving as critical hubs for the development, construction, and maintenance of such projects.
There has been significant recent private investment in people, vessels and port infrastructure across Scotland. Concerns have been raised however about a shortage of renewable projects in the pipeline and the impact that this may have on translating opportunities and investments made to date into meaningful long term economic growth and prosperity. Port leaders have also made it clear that private investment alone cannot carry the full risk - particularly when the revenue model for ports depends on there being a strong and predictable pipeline of offshore wind projects to service.
The CBI & Addleshaw Goddard Scottish Productivity Index, published at the end of 2025, highlighted that Scotland’s strengths—including its significant energy assets—are not being effectively translated into productivity growth. Despite organisations being prepared to invest and scale, and notwithstanding the abundance of natural resources, expertise and enthusiasm within Scotland to capitalise on energy transition initiatives, persistent barriers continue to impede the realisation of this potential into tangible growth.
Although, rightly, it is the long-standing policy of successive UK and Scottish Governments not to pick winners in the port industry, in a recent joint letter to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero from senior port leaders, including the chief executives of Forth Ports, Port of Aberdeen, Haventus, Montrose Port Authority and Peterhead Port Authority it was argued that:
- without adequate funding support and certainty for future offshore wind projects in Scotland’s waters, there is a real risk that current investments by port operators may become unsustainable; and
- a shortage of projects in the pipeline could render ports as stranded assets with not enough projects to serve.
It echoed calls from other industry leaders for policy certainty and further public sector funding for renewable energy and related initiatives within Scotland.
Recent collaborations between Scottish National Investment Bank, National Wealth Fund and GB Energy indicate an ability and willingness to inject public funds into the renewables sector and the infrastructure that supports it. Further investments are however required and are fundamental to attracting private sector financing and investment.
Of equal importance is getting the policy and regulatory framework right for all stakeholders to facilitate further renewable energy initiatives. The sector is currently underpinned by a complex and often overlapping framework of rules. These include Scottish legislation as well as a number of UK-wide regulations. These in turn are managed by multiple agencies, some of which are devolved. This creates an environment that is far from straightforward for port operators, users and investors to navigate.
Furthermore, each port is governed by a unique piece of local legislation and most of Scotland’s ports are trust ports and so have express limitations on what they may or may not do – this presents challenges for granting security, entering into joint ventures and other debt and equity structures.
Trying to untangle policy priorities including decarbonisation, environmental compliance, islands connectivity from the requirements of the fishing, renewable energy and oil & gas sectors together with those of their funders and investors can at times seem like a Gordian Knot.
Port development and associated opportunities are underpinned by strong planning policy support linked to offshore wind, hydrogen, CCUS, logistics and the just transition. National Planning Framework 4 recognises ports as critical national and regional infrastructure, while the National Marine Plan and sectoral marine plans promote port expansion aligned with net zero and economic growth.
However, tensions can arise with biodiversity, climate and community place-based policies, requiring careful reconciliation and evidence led justification. The consenting process in Scotland is often more complex than in other legal jurisdictions, due to the dual terrestrial and marine processes that must run in parallel, involving different statutory consents and authorities each with distinct tests and timescales. This makes programmes harder to predict and finance, particularly for capital-intensive port infrastructure. Compared with more streamlined jurisdictions, this can affect competitiveness for mobile international capital and supply chain investment.
Scotland has the opportunity and ambition to create meaningful and sustainable economic growth through energy transition and the infrastructure that supports it. The public and private investment appetite required to realise this exists. What is now required is a coherent partnership between government and industry and a reworking of the policy and regulatory framework. This will turn ports from supporting infrastructure into strategic economic assets. Get that right, and Scotland’s ports will not just serve the energy transition - they will help lead it.
This article was originally published in The Herald.
Addleshaw Goddard’s market-leading ports and terminals team brings together specialist lawyers from across our international offices, including with deep sector knowledge. We have extensive experience providing practical and pragmatic advice to port operators, their customers and governments in connection with ports and terminals.
