Grant funding of £5m for decom sector

A further £5 million in grant funding is being made available to help maximise the decommissioning opportunity in the North Sea.

Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse announced the Decommissioning Challenge Fund (DCF) will reopen for a third round of funding during a visit to Aberdeen yesterday.

The DCF awarded grants of £4.8m last year and the third funding round will be used to support infrastructure upgrades at Scotland’s ports, innovation in retrieval and transport approaches and to bolster the supply chain.

The cash can also be used to support engineering scoping work, feasibility studies and business development at key sites to help to attract further private investment.

Mr Wheelhouse said: “This round of the DCF includes capital and resource funding, and widens its scope of potential projects with support now also available for business development.

“The Scottish Government is committed to enhancing the capability of the Scottish supply chain, with funding and assistance available for projects that will contribute to making Scotland a world leader in decommissioning. We fully recognise that decommissioning is an emerging, but growing, activity in the North Sea.

“More than £17 billion is expected to be spent in the North Sea to 2025, with the peak for decommissioning activity in this area predicted to go beyond this.

“Scotland’s supply chain is winning the lion’s share of project value in areas like well-plugging and abandonment, but there is room to further increase market share in areas such as the salvage and disposal of top-side infrastructure.

“The budget for the DCF in 2018-19 will reflect the projects coming forward, and our ambition is to match the £5 million successfully awarded last year, however there is flexibility for this to increase if demand is demonstrated.”