Global Underwater Hub (GUH) and Subsea Innovation Cluster Australia (SICA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together to grow the subsea sector in both hemispheres.
GUH, the trade and development body which represents the UK’s $11.9 billion underwater industry has joined forces with SICA – a membership organization of companies in the Australian subsea industry – to foster innovation, collaboration and growth among companies and organizations in the subsea sector in the UK and Australia.
Under the agreement, the organizations will actively promote opportunities for their subsea supply chains in both countries and support each other’s members in entering their respective markets.
They will also share market intelligence and learnings around diversification strategies particularly in energy transition and defense, including the security and protection of critical underwater infrastructure.
Facilitating collaboration will be a priority with the establishment of partnership innovation programs between UK and Australian firms to develop and implement technology suitable for both regions.
Specifically, GUH will work to help UK companies capitalize on significant opportunities in Australia from oil and gas to decommissioning, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and offshore wind.
“Australia has a broad conventional energy mix with strong ambitions towards net zero, powered by carbon capture and a growing pipeline of offshore wind projects in both the West and South East Australian regions.
“Crucially, and similar to the UK, Australia champions a just transition which builds in energy resiliency and security with opportunities in sustained oil and gas production, decommissioning, offshore wind and carbon capture. Supply chain companies are encouraged to bring innovative, collaborative and sustainable solutions to this diversified market,” said Neil Gordon, GUH chief executive.
Gordon highlighted the continued production within the oil and gas industry in Australia where there are opportunities within new developments as well as in the expansion of current production by leading operators such as Woodside and Santos.
This is augmented by an increasing focus on carbon capture and storage, driven by the high CO2 content in gas production in the region, where there are presently 18 carbon projects in the planning. Large scale projects such as Browse currently have substantial infrastructure installation requirements which will be followed by inspection, repair and maintenance over the lifetime of the project.
“Decommissioning is a significant opportunity in Australia where the inventory of subsea assets requiring to be decommissioned includes over 1,500 wells and structures and 4,500km of pipelines with major opportunities for specialist plugging, cutting, inspection and recovery technologies,
“Meanwhile in offshore wind, largely focused on key areas in the South East and Western Australia, there are projects totaling 11GW. The subsea requirement for cables, foundations, survey and protection systems across upwards of 700 turbines provides a significant future opportunity for UK subsea companies,” Gordon concluded.