OGA Highlights Benefit of UK Energy Integration

Integrating oil and gas, renewables, hydrogen and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) energy systems could deliver around 30 percent of the carbon reduction needed to meet the UK’s 2050 net zero target, according to a new report from the UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).

 

The study noted that electrification alone could reduce UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) oil and gas power generation emissions by one third of today’s levels by 2030, which the OGA said will be critical to maintain the oil and gas industry’s social licence to operate.

 

To achieve this vision, the industry, working with government, must deliver a minimum of two operational electrification projects on the UKCS by the mid-2020s, according to the OGA.

 

“We live in a changing landscape in which existing players must learn new skills and how to work in different ways,” the OGA said in a statement posted on its website.

 

“Innovative projects require the participation of stakeholders who may be new to the North Sea and who may not have worked together before,” the OGA added.

 

“This is a steep learning curve for everyone involved but we are encouraged by the enthusiasm of all the groups we have encountered and convinced that the skills, experience and commitment of the oil and gas industry, renewables industry, investors, regulators and government will lead to successful projects,” the OGA continued.

 

“We encourage operators and other stakeholders to continue approaching us with ideas, enablers and barriers, so we can support industry in achieving the vision of two electrification schemes in operation by the mid 2020’s,” the OGA went on to state.

 

In June last year, the UK government set a target to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. This compared with a previous target of at least an 80 percent reduction from 1990 levels

 

Source: Rigzone