A new report published by the University of Aberdeen has called on industry and government to work together to develop opportunities to use marine renewables in the oil and gas sector
Powering Offshore Oil and Gas with Marine Renewables features short contributions from private industry and academics. It advocates creating a niche market where marine renewables including wave power, tidal stream power and floating offshore windfarms can provide power to offshore operations. The authors state the emergence of such a market would act as a springboard for developing marine renewables as part of the energy transition, while reducing the industry’s carbon footprint.
The call is backed by a coalition of organisations and individuals who attended a conference held at the university in 2019 to discuss how marine renewable technologies could help power offshore oil and gas activities.
The conference brought together academics in energy policy and economics with industry figures. Presentations focused on existing plans for applying and developing marine renewables by operators, as well as current schemes. A reader in energy policy at the University, Dr David Toke, who took part in the conference said the oil and gas industry should look at the drop in oil prices as an opportunity to invest in new technologies that may help pave the way towards renewable energy. He said “There are some great opportunities for innovation in wave power being used to supply power to offshore oil and gas operations, as well as the steps forward being taken with offshore wind. That is what this report is all about, and why people should read it.”
The University launched its own Centre for Energy Transition in September 2019, to provide a focus for all areas of energy-related research with an emphasis on supporting the industry in the transition to renewable energy.
Contributors to the report include: Centre for Energy Transition, University of Aberdeen, University of Aberdeen academics Dr David Toke, Professor Alex Kemp, and Dr Marc Gronwald, Robert Gordon Unversity’s Professor Peter Strachan, Columbus Energy Partners, Opportunity North East, Ocean Power Technologies and Resen Waves.
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