The variety of offshore belongings reaching the top of their life, globally, is rising, which means decommissioning initiatives are an actual eventuality for a lot of operators.

Decommissioning is an inherently hazardous train, one which requires meticulous planning, skilled individuals and an especially outlined skill-set, whether it is to be executed safely.

While decommissioning is an costly enterprise, prices have been declining lately as a result of elevated innovation, higher co-operation all through the provision chain and the event of first-class abilities and capabilities.

In this text, Richard Lind, normal supervisor for Ashtead Technology’s mechanical options facility in Thainstone, Aberdeenshire, discusses the numerous challenges dealing with the sector and the way Ashtead Technology may help operators make decommissioning safer and less expensive, whereas lowering environmental influence.

Best-in-class applied sciences and providers

Ashtead Technology is a world knowledgeable within the provision of offshore decommissioning providers for the vitality sector.

With one of many largest fleets of decommissioning instruments and methods out there, we specialize in ROV tooling, management and monitoring options, reducing and restoration methods and seabed air-lift and dredging options.

We supply a complete service functionality for the reducing and removing of oil and fuel and renewable vitality infrastructure, with a confirmed monitor document in area clearance and construction, and pipeline reducing and restoration. Specifically for the renewables market, we offer a set of providers for the decommissioning of met masts, monopiles, tri-pile basis buildings and export cables.

Ashtead Technology serves as a totally built-in ‘one-stop shop’ answer supplier to assist our prospects’ initiatives from the preliminary engineering section by way of to last supply. Having one contractor to produce all of the gear, individuals and challenge administration experience supplies a number of efficiencies and minimises danger on board the vessel.

The continued ambition to cut back decommissioning expenditure is a problem for the entire provide chain and our goal is to offer prospects with probably the most dependable, environment friendly and predictable end-of-life answer, delivered on the lowest value with no compromise on best-in-class HSE efficiency.

Innovation, steady enchancment and funding

Innovation in decommissioning by way of continued funding in analysis, improvement and deployment of know-how will keep and improve provide chain functionality.

In our relentless pursuit of excellence, we proceed to spend money on our gear portfolio to make sure we stay on the forefront of what we do. This dedication to innovation and steady enchancment has led to latest enhancements to our subsea reducing and restoration options portfolio as a way to clear up our prospects’ operational challenges.

In improvement, and due for launch in 2024, is our new mattress restoration instrument, a totally diver-less answer for the restoration of subsea mattresses.

Leveraging our in-house developed management know-how, the system makes use of real-time monitoring and distant positioning as a way to guarantee correct placement and management throughout restoration operations.

Our latest acquisitions of WeSubsea and Hiretech have bolstered our decommissioning functionality, complementing our intensive vary of proprietary and third-party dredging, reducing, ROV tooling and again deck ancillary gear and providers.

Core to creating the optimum answer is listening to our prospects and understanding their distinctive challenges – so early engagement is essential. As a number one subsea know-how enterprise with a longtime monitor document throughout the sector, we now have first-hand expertise of what’s going to and received’t work – we now have seen all of it. Ultimately, we wish to assist our prospects and we are going to all the time think about what is going to add most worth, be extra environment friendly, cut back operational danger and vessel time.

Centre of excellence functionality deployed internationally

Since our acquisition of Underwater Cutting Solutions in 2019, Ashtead Technology’s capability to carry a decommissioning functionality to worldwide prospects has considerably elevated.

Drawing on a tried-and-tested challenge administration mannequin which mixes our centre of excellence experience within the UK with our bolstered worldwide operational functionality, we now have just lately executed a number of profitable initiatives within the Gulf of Mexico, Middle East, Asia and West Africa.

Furthermore, we now have laid the foundations for delivering additional complicated, multi-service decommissioning initiatives throughout these areas, as demand requires.

Decomissioning

Decommissioning is an inherent a part of the vitality transition agenda with new methods of repurposing and reusing infrastructure being explored.

As a proactive participant within the vitality transition, Ashtead Technology continues to work with business companions and the provision chain to assist the event of latest know-how and methodologies to enhance effectivity and cut back value and security danger in an environmentally accountable method.”

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