Page 11 - Euroil Week 16 2020

EurOil POLICY EurOil
Gasunie joins Dutch hydrogen project
NETHERLANDS
DUTCH gas grid operator Gasunie has signed up to a pilot offshore hydrogen production pro- ject hailed as the first of its kind.
The PosHydon project envisages the instal- lation of a 1-MW electrolyser, powered by wind energy, at the Q13a platform in the Dutch North Sea operated by Neptune Energy. The initiative is backed by Nexstep, the Dutch association for decommissioning and re-use, and TNO, the Netherlands’ organisation for applied scientific research.
Gasunie is joining gas infrastructure opera- tors NOGAT and Noordgastransport at the pro- ject. The plan is to repurpose gas pipelines in the North Sea for the transport of hydrogen.
“We are very pleased to welcome Gasunie as a partner. Gasunie is already working hard to accelerate the energy transition, including sev- eral hydrogen pilots on land, and have the neces- sary knowledge and experience with electrolysis in-house,” Neptune’s managing director in the Netherlands, Lex de Groot, said in a statement.
The Netherlands is in a good position to embrace green hydrogen energy, thanks to its extensive gas pipeline network and its wind power potential in the North Sea.
Neptune has a 50% stake in the Q13a plat- form, while its Dutch partners EBN and TAQA Offshore have 40% and 10% shares respectively.
The PosHydon project is a cornerstone of Neptune’s plan to decarbonise its business over the next decade. Earlier this month the company announced it was targeting a carbon intensity of 6 kg of CO2 per barrel of oil equivalent by 2030, representing a 60% reduction from the fore- casted level if no efforts were made and a third of the industry average of 18 kg.
Neptune is also aspiring to become net zero in terms of methane emissions within the next 10 years.
The company intends to reach these goals also by improving efficiency and expanding the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) tech- n o l o g y. ™
UK extends scheme to retain jobs amid COVID-19 crisis
UK
The extension should benefit 200,000 more workers.
THE UK government has expanded the cover- age of its coronavirus (COVID-19) job retention scheme – a move it says will benefit more than 200,000 workers.
The North Sea industry has been crippled by the oil price collapse that has resulted from COVID-19 lockdowns. Coupled with work restrictions, this has led to hundreds of offshore workers being furloughed.
Under the government scheme launched by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last month, companies can claim a grant covering 80% of the wages of furloughed employees, up to a cap of GBP2,500 ($3,130) per month. In order to be eligible, work- ers now need to have been on the payroll since March 19, instead of February 28 as previously stated. The scheme is anticipated to be fully func- tional this week.
HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) said the extension was designed to “help as many people as possible.” The earlier date had been set to protect against fraudulent claims.
Unions argue that more needs to be done to
ensure that offshore jobs are protected, how- ever. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) warned last week that up to 1,000 drilling jobs were at risk amid the crisis. It called for furlough protection to apply to all offshore workers regardless of their contracts.
Unite the Union, the UK’s largest trade union, has already arranged deals with contractors and caterers to ensure that workers in those sec- tors can benefit from the job retention scheme. However, North Sea redundancies are still being announced.
Bermuda-registered Borr Drilling was revealed earlier this month to be planning to make 230 North Sea workers redundant. Aus- tralia’s Worley intends to make 27 workers redundant at the Sullom Voe oil and gas terminal – a decision branded a “disgrace” by Unite. The union has also railed against Norway-headquar- tered Archer’s termination of 130 offshore jobs, instead of making use of the government’s job retention scheme. ™
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