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TAQA secures vessel for Brae Alpha decommissioning
An operator of North Sea production assets has secured the world’s largest heavy-lift vessel to decommission one of the biggest steel-jacketed oil production platforms in the UK
TAQA has awarded a contract to Allseas to decommission one of its largest assets in the UK sector of the North Sea.
Allseas will allocate its flagship vessel Pioneering Spirit, the world’s largest heavy-lift vessel, to remove the 33,000-tonne topside and 12,000-tonne upper jacket of TAQA’s Brae Alpha platform in the central North Sea, in two separate campaigns.
The engineering, preparation, removal and disposal (EPRD) contract for Brae Alpha will start later this year.
TAQA has committed to reusing or recycling at least 95% of recovered topsides material once this is unloaded onto the quayside of a recycling yard.
Brae Alpha, located around 274 km northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland, started production in 1983 and produced more than 636M barrels of oil equivalent during its lifetime.
Allseas is currently undertaking the EPRD decommissioning programme for four of TAQA UK’s northern North Sea assets including North Cormorant, Tern, Eider and Cormorant Alpha, in what remains the largest single offshore decommissioning contract awarded in the UK to date.
TAQA ceased production from these four platforms in 2024 and from the East Brae field in the central North Sea in 2025.
On the subject of decommissioning Brae Alpha, TAQA UK managing director Sandy Hutchison said, “This milestone reinforces TAQA’s position as a leader in safe, efficient late-life asset management and decommissioning. It represents a major project for a platform that has played a significant role in the UK’s energy security over four decades.”
Allseas president Pieter Heerema said Brae Alpha’s topsides and jacket will be removed in a single lift by Pioneering Spirit.
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