There are more than 250 platforms and 45,000 km of pipeline installed within the UK Continental Shelf. As these assets near the end of their economic life, operators plan to decommission the facilities in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The complete paper describes the Hydrogen Offshore Production project, which identifies an alternative to decommissioning by providing reuse options for offshore infrastructure while addressing the challenge of a low-carbon energy supply.
The North Sea basin, including the portion within UK waters, supplies approximately 60% of the energy demand of the EU and Norway. Decreasing levels of oil and gas production, coupled with the EU pledge made in Paris in 2015, will result in an energy transition over the next few decades.
An area of opportunity for the UK is the offshore infrastructure across the continental shelf.