Published 11th Oct 2026, 18:03 BST
Holding up your hand and admitting you over-egged the pudding is rarely done by politicians. But an admission that the Scottish government’s floating wind ambitions are way off track is much more important than the SNP simply swallowing its pride.
Politically, having to admit that huge promises made to ensure Scotland had the biggest ambitions to scale up the emerging technology across the globe have failed to materialise at the scale envisioned, could be seen as disastrous.
It is a fair conclusion that the crisis facing Scotland’s floating wind industry outweigh the issues facing the oil and gas sector - the £50bn prize was meant to balance the naturally-dwindling fossil fuels production.
Energy has become a huge political boxing ring between the SNP and its political rivals. The party has fallen in line behind the oil and gas giants to throw haymakers at the Labour UK government and stares down constant pressure to fold over its opposition to nuclear power.
With the benefit of hindsight, the ScotWind contracts being frontloaded to prioritise huge floating wind projects without supply chains or even a developed industry, was impractical at best.
First Minister John Swinney has previously acknowledged the SNP, under his predecessors, has struggled to deliver promises. This was something his inner circle argue he wants to put right. So it is understandable that the party would want to wriggle out of having to admit that more huge ambitions tabled under Nicola Sturgeon have fallen short.
READ MORE: Warning window closing for Scotland to lead world on floating offshore wind as 'cumulative risks' fuel jitters
Already, the finger is being pointed at Westminster.
Now the First Minister has put pressure on Mr Burnham’s administration to ensure the upcoming and crucial strategic spatial energy plan to boost confidence in Scotland’s floating wind projects and award sought-after contract for difference backing to proposed developments.
But if you ask the industry, as well as needing the backing from Westminster in the upcoming energy plan, developers warn Holyrood needs to take its share of the blame for embarrassingly slow planning and consenting processes.
When confidence is already pretty wobbly, potential investors who might fancy putting their hands in the pockets might understandably take one look at Scotland’s two governments squabbling and run for the hills.
It is unlikely the SNP government will want to lose face over its flagship ScotWind projects, particularly in today’s unforgiving political climate.
READ MORE: Oil and gas isn't the only North Sea crisis - politicians need to stop squabbling and focus on renewables
But what would be even more damaging to an already-bruised industry would be a failure to acknowledge that the scale-up of floating offshore wind will not match the big promises made almost five years ago.
That failure to live in the real world would play into the hands of the SNP’s opponents and potentially cause more damage to an industry in desperate need of a reality check.
The Scottish government has not published a full energy strategy since 2017. This from a government that wants energy powers held at Westminster, devolved to Holyrood.
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If the SNP wants to restore credibility that Scotland’s energy future is best-placed in its hands, some much-needed honesty is required, alongside a plan to ensure renewables can thrive in Scottish waters in the decades ahead.