UK offshore oil and gas, renewables, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) integration could contribute some 30% of the country’s total carbon reduction needed to meet the 2050 net zero target.
The Oil and Gas Authority’s (OGA) published its findings in a report, Energy Integration Project, in collaboration with Ofgem, The Crown Estate and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The report also highlighted the potential for offshore renewables (wind, wave and tidal) to contribute an approximate further 30% towards the UK’s net zero target.
The UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) could support, in combination with investments in onshore energy infrastructure, around 60% of the UK’s decarbonisation requirements.
OGA stated that there were more than 30 energy integration projects already underway across the UKCS, with more than 10 actively engaged by the OGA alongside the study.
Close co-ordination of technologies would benefit energy production, cut greenhouse gases, and make technologies more “economically more attractive.”
The report also found oil and gas platform electrification would reduce emissions in the near term, and by 2-3Mt CO2 per year by 2030, the equivalent of reducing 20% of 2020 emissions, and rising to 40% by 2030.
Oil and gas infrastructure and supply chain could potentially support offshore renewables expansion, including floating wind power.
Blue hydrogen (produced from natural gas) could decarbonise around 30% of the UK natural gas supply by 2050, potentially supporting some half of CCS expansions in the same timeframe.
And green hydrogen (from renewables) could help support the expansion of offshore renewables in the 2030s and beyond, providing an efficient storage and energy transportation solution.
“The UK Continental Shelf has the potential to make a deep and meaningful impact on the UK’s overall net zero target and offshore energy integration can be the game changer, ” said OGA chief executive Dr Andy Samuel.
“By closely co-ordinating our energy systems a secure energy supply can continue to be delivered from a diverse mix of production, while unlocking more and more of the green energy and carbon capture needed to help take the UK to net zero.”
Scotland’s Energy Minister, Paul Wheelhouse, added that the oil and gas sector had a key role to play in supporting a just transition to a future with net zero greenhouse emissions.
“The skills, expertise and infrastructure of the oil and gas sector and its supply chain will be vital in unlocking the opportunities for the integration of offshore energy systems – a key step on Scotland’s own pathway to a greener and fairer economy and society.”