Page 16: of Marine Technology Magazine (March 2020)

News Feature Decommissioning

Image: © currahee_shutter

Subsea Expo ‘20

AsiaPac Opportunities Abound

Decommissioning in Southeast Asia “The prime markets are going to be tralia, so anything you can do to miti- and Australia offers a $100 billion op- Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, then gate vessel time will be well received,” portunity out to 2040 with a million to a lesser extent Australia and New says Miller. tonnes of steel to be removed and thou- Zealand,” said Miller. “The reason is, Also, within renewables, marine en- sands of wells to be sealed, a business there’s been almost no decommission- ergy is an opportunity. While not at the breakfast in Aberdeen at Subsea Expo. ing work done to date, despite the size scale of the large offshore wind farms,

Blair Miller, who works for Scottish of the market. There’s be a handful done there could be many of them across the

Development International (SDI) in and some as rigs to reefs. [more broad- island nations, says Miller. With expe-

Singapore, covering Southeast Asia and ly] It’s a process that has to take place rience developed in building marine

Australia, told the Global Opportunities and the local supply chain has no expe- energy systems at the European Ma-

Business Breakfast, on the ? rst day of rience in these areas.” Part of the reason rine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney,

Subsea Expo, that decommissioning, for this is the process being held up by Scotland, some ? rms are already start- followed by renewable energy and then legal and liability issues, which are still ing to supply systems into Asia. The conventional oil and gas, are the top being ironed out. For those wanting to region will be looking for experience in three opportunities in the region for the work in this area, it will mean working vessel support, cabling, trenching and subsea industry. with local incumbents, he adds. Environmental Impact Assessments. “It’s the equivalent of the North Sea by Another area of opportunity is in re- Finally, there are also opportunities in expenditure and greater by volume,” he newables. The ? rst offshore wind farm conventional oil and gas, he says, in In- told the event. Some $3.5B every year in Australia – the Star of The South – is donesia and Australia. The latter is more over the next decade is expended to be going ahead and will be 2GW offshore of a green? eld province where operators spent on decommissioning in Southeast Victoria, run by a company started by are doing far from shore ultra-long sub-

Asia and Australia, he said. According to Scottish people, says Miller. While there sea tiebacks at record breaking scales

Wood Mackenzie, there’s almost $100B have been issues around permitting, the and distance, says Miller, with com- of spending expected out to 2040, with operators will be looking for expertise parable standards and costs to the UK. hundreds of ? elds, thousands of wells around front end engineering and design Meanwhile in Indonesia, the focus is and a million tonnes of steel and lots of and installation of wind turbines. “A big more on brown? eld asset management waste to remove, he added. challenge is bringing vessels into Aus- and maintenance work predominantly. 2020 March 16 MTR

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