This week the UK energy sector is waiting with bated breath for the Labour Party's first budget as oil firms are set to receive an increased rate of tax. 

Erikka kicks the show off by discussing the final warning shots fired by the country's oil and gas operators. The industry has not shied away from voicing concern with the Labour government's plan, however, this is the last ditch effort to have their voices heard before Rachel Reeves announces Labour's changes next Wednesday. 

Next up, Mat has been looking into nuclear energy and how Viaro Energy is considering small reactors to power operations. Decarbonisation of oil and gas assets is a point of contention as some platforms struggle to electrify but Viaro has come up with a novel solutiuon. 

Finally, the UK is finally setting out an energy infrastructure plan and Ryan asks, why has it taken so long?! Transmission infrastructure is key to achieving the energy transition and pylons have become a point of contention. As this was announced by the National Energy System Operator (NESO), SSEN Transmission announced plans to build 1000 homes in Northern Scotland as it looks to roll out infrastructure in the region.

The UK’s Labour government says it’s in a hurry to make Great Britain a clean energy superpower. So for this week’s podcast, news editor Erikka Askeland takes a romp through the first hundred days of the government and the billions that have been promised for green energy firms – but is it all new money?

Reporter Michael Behr discusses what happened when Labour’s 100 days roadshow came North to Aberdeen, as Energy secretary Ed Miliband and GB Energy Chairman Jeurgen Maier promise the delivery – at last – of the energy skills passport.

And finally, print features lead Ryan Duff adds grist to the rumour mill after five senior executives leave the private-equity-owned NEO Energy as it slows down development on a flagship North Sea prospect.

This week, Scottish Renewables and RenewableUK hosted the Floating Offshore Wind conference in Aberdeen. Energy Voice's Erikka, Ryan and Michael were in attendance, speaking to John Swinney, getting project updates and gauging supply chain impact.

Kicking off this week's episode, the trio discuss their key takeaways from the event and how John Swinney urged developers to submit higher-quality consenting applications to the Scottish government. 

Next up, Ryan spoke to Vårgrønn chief executive Stephen Bull about UK manufacturing, progress on Green Volt and the role of Chinese manufacturing in floating wind.

Sticking with the Green Volt theme, there was some controversy surrounding the project at the start of the week as it was revealed project partner Flotation Energy had made a £30,000 donation to SNP Westminster lead Stephen Flynn following a prompt to accelerate consenting. Additionally, Green Volt named Aberdeen as its headquarters as it looks to create jobs in the region.

Delays in fixing damaged or corroded equipment in the North Sea is a huge cause for concern amongst workers and their families, along with those who remember what can happen when it goes terribly, disastrously wrong.

Ian Garden, managing director of Rig Deluge, discusses a range of issues he found when surveying North Sea rigs fire safety systems and has highlighted delays in addressing them, with Piper Alpha survivor Joe Meanen joining to discuss the importance of fire safety culture.

It was a big week for GB’s electricity system with the closure of Ratcliffe. While the country’s goal of zero carbon from power has been accelerated to 2030, longer timeframes clearly give companies - and crucially workers - scope to prepare.

As the UK waves goodbye to coal, the government is ushering in CCS. There’s an aim to capture 20-30mn tonnes per year of CO2 as Starmer finally delivers on the long-awaited Track 1 CCS project funding that was promised by the previous Conservative government.

Talking of targets, there’s also much ambition for offshore wind. And there has been progress this week, for instance with the innovative Salamander floating wind project submitting an onshore consent application. There’s a growing sense the UK will fall short of its big plans, the trick is to try and avoid becoming disheartened.

That wait is over! Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced at this week's Labour Party conference that GB Energy will be based in Aberdeen.

Energy Voice reporter Mat Perry was listening to the prime minister make the announcement and discussed what it means for the Granite City while questioning if the state-owned firm has enough financial firepower to make a difference.

Print features lead Ryan Duff discusses the long wait for a cap and floor verdict. It was over six months ago that a government consultation ended for a CfD-like funding mechanism for technologies such as pumped storage hydro but the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero say industry will find out more "in due course."

Finally, E-Fwd editor Ed Reed has been looking into hydrogen while at Aurora's conference in London. Is blue hydrogen already on its way out and where will the "champagne" of the energy transition find its use?

Bridges and Bottlenecks is the latest podcast series by Energy Voice Out Loud in partnership with DNV. Each episode looks to address the hard-hitting issues within the energy transition. Technology exists that will be the bridge to take us there, but there are still a number of bottlenecks that stand in the way of progress.

Joining Energy Voice’s print features lead, Ryan Duff, is DNV’s senior vice president, and regional director for UK and Ireland energy systems, Hari Vamadevan, and chief technology officer at Energy Systems Catapult Jon Saltmarsh.

As this series comes to an end, the trio look back on previously discussed topics and what needs to happen going forward while highlighting the importance of communication to the energy transition.

On Energy Voice Out Loud this week, news editor Erikka Askeland and reporter Mathew Perry take in the OEUK Conference: Powering Our Energy Future.

Hosted in Aberdeen, the conference had had some strong views to deliver. Erikka discusses some of the warnings issued by the likes of BP vice president for the North Sea Doris Reiter and OEUK boss, David Whitehouse, who talked about the effects of government policy. But was Energy Minister Michael Shanks listening? Mat tells all.

There was also some good news to tell involving Cerulean Winds' INTOG offshore wind projects Aspen, Beech and Cedar, plus some of the latest green investments by the likes of Port of Aberdeen and Net Zero Technology Centre.

Then we hear from some of the people were speaking at and attending the event, including Jenny Stanning, external relations director from the organiser, Offshore Energies UK; Myrtle Dawes, CEO of the Net Zero Technology Centre; Neil Rowantree, vice president of energy at Blend; and last but not least Marcus Paige, business development manager at Kellas Midstream.

This week government scouts were in Aberdeen as renewables leaders called for more cash and questioned where previously promised funds are.

The GB Energy news just keeps on coming and as always, Erikka is on the case! Energy Voice's sister publication, The P&J, this week revealed that government scouts are sniffing about Aberdeen's Marischal Square as a potential HQ for the state-owned energy firm. Additionally, the government has proposed new legislation to boost the borrowing powers of the Crown Estate to unlock “strategic bottlenecks” affecting offshore wind.

Staying on the topic of offshore wind, Michael has been looking at how the government can attract more power generation in its Contracts for Difference (CfD) processes. Last week's announcement of Allocation Round 6 (AR6) winners left industry commentators wanting more as offshore wind generation fell short of what is needed to reach government targets. 

Finally, Ryan questions if Ed Miliband's move to propose new licences for the Track 1 projects is just "smoke and mirrors". The CCS sector is still waiting on £20 billion in government investment and it doesn't even know what form that will take if it ever gets delivered. This is causing the UK's front runners in carbon capture and storage to fall behind its European counterparts

No one could argue that the UK's energy sector was dull this week with the announcement of government funding for renewables projects, progress on GB Energy as the rumour mill keeps spinning and conferences.

Ryan kicks off this week's discussion by diving into offshore wind and the winners of the governments Allocation round (AR). Last year's results revealed no successful bids for offshore wind so this year didn't have much to do to improve in that regard, however, was enough done as 3.3GW was signed off?

Moving inland, Michael was on the show floor at RenewableUK's onshore wind conference in Edinburgh. As it kicked off on the same day that AR6 winners were announced, there was a bit of a buzz on the show floor. Mike dives into the state of onshore wind and what happens when things go up in smoke...

Finally, Erikka's attention has been firmly fixed on GB Energy HQ location speculation as Ryan laments the eight hours he spent listening to Westminster debates on the Bill's amendments. Tempers are flaring as folks are eager to find out where Labour's state-owned energy firm will set up shop and MP's demand more clarity.