East vying with Holland over huge decommissioning contracts

Work to dismantle and dispose of up to 50 redundant oil and gas platforms and equipment over the next decade could provide a huge opportunity for the region. 

However, ports in the Netherlands are also hoping to capitalise on decommissioning in the North Sea.

'ENORMOUS PRIZE' 

Bill Cattanach, head of supply chain at the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), said it is: “a huge opportunity knocking on our door.”

“We need to make sure it doesn’t slip through our fingers,” he said, speaking to the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) and more than 40 offshore operators and businesses at a forum in Great Yarmouth.

“There is an enormous prize out there. We stand today with this opportunity ahead and should look to explore if we want to grab it with both hands - or are we willing to sit back and watch it go over to the Netherlands?”

Kevin Keable (right), chair of EEEGR, with Bill Cattanach, head of supply chain at the NSTA, and Sylvia Buchan, supply chain manager at the NSTA, at the Offshore Decommissioning Conference this week in St Andrews (Image: TMS Media) “If we can come to the conclusion that we have a facility that works, with enough depth, quayside and strength of quayside, and can guarantee a succession of work, there is a significant prize for the next decade.”

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The East is home to such facilities. Great Yarmouth has a deepwater port and a purpose-built decommissioning yard, one of only five in the UK.

The facility was set up eight years ago and was used to dismantle and dispose of old infrastructure from the former ConocoPhilips portfolio (now Harbour Energy).

The decommissioning of Shell’s Leman platform has been mothballed, but the project is being revitalised by demolition experts Liberty Industrial, which moved into the region 18 months ago.

Shell’s decommissioning portfolio is 19 smaller platforms, and both Perenco and Harbour Energy each have large portfolios.

Decommissioned oil and gas infrastructure at the decommissioning yard at Great Yarmouth port alongside offshore wind turbine towers about to be loaded out (Image: TMS Media) “We are standing on the edge of a cliff for onshore dismantling,” Mr Cattanach added.

“We have only five sites in the UK that we can do on shore dismantling: Shetland, Fife, Blythe, Teesside and the East of England.

“The Netherlands is the main competition to here but there is no inherent reason why we should not be more competitive.”

'WE HAVE THE CAPABILITY'

Martin Hewitt, of Liberty Industrial, said Great Yarmouth has the capabilities to help lead the way.

"It would be crazy for it not to be used for the assets coming online," he said. "We have the capability in the UK to deliver but it comes down to cost.

“Approaching this project by project is no good. We need long-term deals, otherwise it is not sustainable and will be more costly.”

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Old and new: Great Yarmouth's decommissioning yard with jackets from southern North Sea gas platforms to be dismantled alongside offshore wind farm towers set to be installed  (Image: TMS Media) BENEFITTING PORTS AND PEOPLE

James Crosswell, of Peel Ports Great Yarmouth, said: “We want to bring decommissioning works to this region.

“It will be great for the port and benefit so many more people locally.

“There is no reason why this work should be confined to one area of the outer harbour. We have nearly 60 acres of space. Why confine it to four acres?”

Lowestoft port could also be used for the decommissioning, with the recent opening of the Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF).

A Norside Supporter vessel calling at the Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF), the first vessel to visit the town's new £35m port (Image: Stephen Waller) 'WE CAN DO IT HERE'

A campaign spearheaded by EEEGR to make the East the epicentre of North Sea decommissioning made its way to Offshore Energies UK’s (OEUK) decommissioning conference in St Andrews, Scotland, this week.

Kevin Keable, EEEGR’s chairman, said: “Let’s see what we can do to get as much of this dismantling work to East Anglia as we can.

“We are seeing work going to the Netherlands and other ports when we can do it here, where the industry began off Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.”

Kevin Keable, chairman of the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) (Image: Newsquest)