A planned £10million runway extension at Aberdeen International Airport – one of a series of strategic upgrade investments at the airport in recent years – will open up new destinations while allowing existing airlines to work even more efficiently. The project is yet another step forward in terms of advancing the city’s international connectivity.

The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) will provide a crucial new road link around the city of Aberdeen. The single biggest infrastructure project of today, it will hugely improve road transport to, from and around the region. It will link existing major roads and key locations such as the airport, major industrial locations and public transport facilities.

A five-mile length of the A90 trunk road, the main route along the Energetica corridor, is to be upgraded from single to dual carriageway. The project will mean the entire length of the A90 between Aberdeen and Ellon will be dual. The programme will be carried out in conjunction with the development of the AWPR, which links directly to the A90.

Peterhead Port Authority has opened a new £33million all-weather deepwater quay and ancillary facilities which will support offshore oil & gas and renewable operations. Smith Embankment, involving a new 200-metre berth and 16,000-square-metre work area, augments the extensive existing facilities which make Peterhead the premier deepwater port in the UK. The new embankment’s 10-metre depth and heavy-lift capabilities are also expected to attract business from the offshore decommissioning sector.

The port’s facilities are supported by a comprehensive and well established engineering supply chain and augmented significantly by the South Base site operated by international energy logistics business ASCO. The long-established storage and distribution base is a ready-made solution for operational and maintenance challenges faced by the offshore renewables industry.

Proposals are in place to develop a carbon capture and storage project at gas-fired Peterhead Power Station. The proposed project will design and develop a CCS facility capable of capturing the CO2 from a turbine unit at the station. It will ultimately be transported via an undersea pipeline to an existing gas reservoir in the North Sea that has ceased production.

The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre is a private sector-led project that will create a demonstration centre for the technology needed to realise the potential of wind resources in the North Sea. Comprising 11 turbines of between four and 10 megawatts off the coast of Aberdeen, it will place Aberdeen City and Shire at the forefront of international wind power innovation.

A £4.4million investment at an internationally-renowned marine research institute is generating new support for offshore development. The creation of a new complex at the University of Aberdeen’s Oceanlab, based at Newburgh, bolsters its services capabilities on behalf of the global subsea industry and secures Scotland’s place as a world leader in marine research and technology.