£1M Decarbonization Competition for the Electrification of Offshore Oil & Gas Installations

A total of 29 bids have been submitted for the £1million competition for ideas that could advance the electrification of platforms on the UKCS. Winners to be awarded a share of the fund will be announced in early December, with work to be completed by 31st March 2021 and project reports to be published in Q2 2022.

High-quality studies touching on technical, engineering and/or commercial ideas have come in from Operators, supply chain and academia and they will now be assessed

Power generation accounts for around two thirds of oil and gas production emissions. It is anticipated that powering installations using electricity either from a cable to the shore or from a nearby windfarm, could lead to 2-3 million tonnes per annum CO2 emissions reductions, which is equivalent to the annual carbon emissions from households in a city the size of Liverpool.

In addition, the resulting power demand from offshore oil and gas electrification could potentially support up to 4 gigawatts of new offshore windpower capacity.

The OGA has been actively progressing electrification opportunities in areas including the Central North Sea and West of Shetland: bringing operators together; hosting workshops with the power sector; and pressing operators for more pace on project delivery.

Platform electrification is a key component of the OGA’s vision for an integrated energy basin. The OGA’s Energy Integration Report found that the UK Continental Shelf could (through a mix of platform electrification, carbon capture and storage, offshore wind and hydrogen) absorb up to 60% of the UK’s entire CO2 abatement needed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.