OGA announces winners of offshore electrification competition

THE UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has awarded three projects a share of £1m (US$1.3m) for the advancement of offshore electrification.

More than 70% of the emissions from oil and gas production come from power generation, and it is anticipated that electrification could lead to a reduction of 2–3m t/y of CO2. The OGA, working with BEIS, launched the decarbonisation competition for the electrification of offshore oil and gas installations in September. It has now announced the three winning applications.

The three winners are:

Orcadian Energy to evaluate electrification of key offshore installations in the Central Graben in the North Sea that don’t require a connection to the shore. The proposed concept would use electricity generated from local wind farms for the majority of power needs, with backup electricity provided by gas or net zero fuels.

Orsted to explore the optimal technical design for reliable power from an offshore wind farm. A four-month feasibility study will look at commercial solutions for establishing an electrical connection between wind farms and other installations, with the aim to provide a scalable solution that can be applied to any wind farm in proximity to a platform.

Katoni Engineering to assess how different sources and locations of renewable power can be used by existing offshore platforms on a large scale.

The companies must complete their studies by March 2022, with reports expected to be published in Q2.

Andy Samuel, OGA Chief Executive, said: “Rapid progress on platform electrification is vital to ensure that production emissions are halved by 2030, in line with agreed targets.

“This competition has sparked significant interest from a broad cross section of industry with an impressive range of innovative proposals. The investment and infrastructure to move projects forward now will be beneficial long into the future, enabling network grid and offshore wind expansion.”

Greg Hands, Energy & Climate Change Minister, said: “Through our landmark North Sea Transition Deal, we are ensuring the UK’s oil and gas industry’s highly-skilled workers and supply chain are protected as we shift to a lower carbon future.”