LESS than 1% of the offshore workforce has signed up to a flagship scheme designed to help oil and gas workers move into renewable energy jobs, prompting warnings that Scotland’s “just transition” is failing workers.
The Energy Skills Passport (ESP), which received £3.7 million from the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Fund and backing from the UK Government, was intended to make it easier and cheaper for workers to transfer their existing skills into industries such as offshore wind – facilitating the transition to green energy.
However, figures obtained by green transition campaign group Uplift through freedom of information requests show just 688 workers created profiles on the platform between January 2025 and March 2026 – fewer than 0.6% of the estimated 115,000 workers it was designed to serve.
Uplift has told The National the scheme is a “textbook” example of the consequences of leaving the energy transition to the whims of the industry and has called for greater intervention from both the Scottish and UK Governments.
Io Hadjicosta, policy adviser at Uplift, told The National: “The failure of the Energy Skills Passport, with less than 1% of the workforce signed up despite £3.7 million in public backing, is a textbook warning of what happens when critical transition policy is left to goodwill.
“From reactive scrambles to mitigate job losses after industrial closures like Mossmorran and Grangemouth to a disastrous decade of economic decline in Aberdeen, history shows us the devastating price of an energy transition dictated by the whims of industry.
“The Scottish Government must stop playing spectator and move from crisis management to proactive planning.”
The passport was originally proposed following calls from offshore workers for a system which would reduce the need to repeat training when moving between oil and gas and renewable energy.
Workers can currently face separate qualification requirements despite significant overlap between the skills needed in the two industries, leaving some paying thousands of pounds to maintain different sets of certificates.
The ESP was intended to tackle the problem by recognising existing skills and reducing unnecessary duplication of training.
However, research published by Uplift found that the current version instead largely operates as a digital profile and “skills database”, allowing workers to record qualifications and see what additional training is required for different jobs.
It does not currently provide the qualification recognition which would allow workers to avoid repeating equivalent training.
Uplift's analysis also found problems with the way jobs and skills are categorised by the platform.
The campaign group highlighted the experience of a mechanical engineer with five years of offshore experience who attempted to use the system but found some of his specific skills were not available to select.
He instead had to choose generic engineering categories and was subsequently matched with jobs in facilities management and general maintenance which did not reflect his experience or career ambitions.
The findings were first detailed in an article published by Uplift, which said documents released under Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) showed the difficulties facing the passport had been apparent before its launch.
Scottish Government records from 2023 showed officials were aware of resistance within parts of the wind industry to aligning qualifications and that the project's governing group had not met for months.
The organisation has now urged the Scottish Government to use the upcoming Programme for Government to commit to publishing its long-delayed Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.
The Scottish Government first committed to the plan almost five years ago. It was intended to set out how Scotland would increase renewable energy production, attract investment in the net-zero economy and deliver a fair transition away from fossil fuels.
A draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan was eventually published in January 2023, with the final version subsequently promised by summer 2024. It has still not been published.
Hadjicosta said the strategy should be accompanied by long-term funding commitments to support the transition.
She added: “Turning the corner starts with publishing the long-overdue Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan in its first year in office, complete with multi-year delivery budgets that unlock investment in domestic manufacturing and port infrastructure.
Uplift has argued that governments need to take a more active role in forcing progress on recognising qualifications rather than relying on industry bodies to reach agreement voluntarily.
The group said: “Asking industry bodies with commercial interests in training revenue to self-organise and voluntarily reduce training requirements was always optimistic.”
It said the Scottish and UK Governments have several potential levers available and argued that, if agreement cannot be reached, oversight of the scheme should be handed to a public body without a financial interest in the amount of training undertaken.
Uplift warned that failing to properly manage the shift to green energy risks repeating the economic damage experienced by communities following previous industrial decline.
Hadjicosta said: “Without this government support, it is workers and their communities who pay the price: in training bills they can't afford, jobs that don't materialise, and communities watching the wealth of the transition pass them by.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Energy Skills Passport is one tool in a wider landscape of support to ensure that the skills, experience and expertise of oil and gas workers is not lost as part of a fair and managed transition to net zero.
“Funded training opportunities are also available through the £6 million Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund, alongside tailored advice to help workers consider their options based on their current skill set, experience, aspirations and the local job market.
“However, a just and managed transition for the workforce also depends on key policy levers which remain reserved. We need to see a parallel approach, in which North Sea oil and gas production is managed alongside the increasing deployment of renewables.
“Current UK Government policies, such as the Energy Profits Levy, are driving an accelerated decline of North Sea oil and gas before renewables can be ready, putting that transition at risk.
“That’s why the Scottish Government is calling for North Sea oil and gas projects to be assessed on a case-by-case basis with climate compatibility and energy security as key considerations, and for the UK Government to replace the Energy Profits Levy with a fair system to protect jobs, energy security and investment in our energy sector.”
A spokesperson for the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We are clear that oil and gas will continue to play an important role in our energy system for decades to come, while we transition to clean power.
“Our plans, which come with record investment in clean energy industries alongside initiatives like the industry-led Energy Skills Passport, will protect this highly skilled workforce and create the next generation of long-term good jobs in the North Sea.”
