The UK Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) has made significant headway on projects aiming to support the energy transition alongside the core role of maximizing economic recovery of UK oil and gas, and it has now taken these efforts a step further.
The OGA announced this week it has secured a £900,000 grant from the Better Regulation Executive’s Regulators’ Pioneer Fund, to begin a new project exploring the potential for a more integrated offshore energy sector, including innovative closer links between oil and gas production and offshore renewables.
Over the past year, the OGA has published a flaring and venting policy and awarded its first CCS carbon dioxide (CO2) appraisal and storage licence, and in the autumn it will publish a policy position on its role in the energy transition in the spring, and an Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) strategy, which will cover carbon dioxide EOR.
The newly announced project will look at the mix of energy sources and storage solutions needed for the transition to a low carbon economy in areas including powering of offshore oil and gas platforms from renewable sources; monetization of offshore produced gas via in-situ power generation; offshore hydrogen production and transportation, as a clean-energy storage solution; and carbon dioxide capture, transportation and storage, using legacy oil and gas infrastructure.
The OGA is working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), The Crown Estate, Ofgem and other stakeholders to test for potential technical and regulatory opportunities in the short-term, while also looking at longer-term opportunities to maximize the value of the UK Continental Shelf through energy integration. This can also enhance the value of the existing infrastructure; skills, technology and supply chains. The project will conclude in spring 2020.
Dr Andy Samuel, Chief Executive of the Oil & Gas Authority said, “This is a really exciting opportunity to advance the energy transition agenda, looking at practical steps that can be taken and how we as regulators can support that. Oil and gas will be required to power our economy and heat our homes for the foreseeable future, but to me it is clear there are great opportunities now to more closely link up all forms of offshore energy production to generate power more cleanly and efficiently.”
Will Apps, Head of Energy Development at The Crown Estate, said, “As managers of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we are pleased to be working with the Oil & Gas Authority and other partners to support this project, helping to pave the way for greater market innovation in the critical area of energy integration, and support the UK’s ongoing transition to a low carbon energy mix.”