The UK Oil and Gas Authority is looking to foster closer ties with the renewables industry as part of project explore a more integrated offshore energy sector.
OGA has secured a £900,000 grant from the Better Regulation Executive’s Regulators’ Pioneer Fund for the initiative.
Areas of interest are powering offshore oil and gas platforms using clean power, offshore hydrogen production and transportation, monetisation of offshore produced gas using in-situ power generation and carbon and capture, transportation and storage.
The authority said it is working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, The Crown Estate, Ofgem and other stakeholders to test for potential technical and regulatory opportunities in the short-term.
In the longer-term, it is considering opportunities to maximise the value of the UK Continental Shelf through energy integration.
The project will conclude in spring 2020.
OGA chief executive Andy Samuel said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to advance the energy transition agenda, looking at practical steps that can be taken and how we as regulators can support that.
“Oil and gas will be required to power our economy and heat our homes for the foreseeable future, but to me it is clear there are great opportunities now to more closely link up all forms of offshore energy production to generate power more cleanly and efficiently.”
The Crown Estate head of energy development Will Apps said: “As managers of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we are pleased to be working with the Oil & Gas Authority and other partners to support this project, helping to pave the way for greater market innovation in the critical area of energy integration, and support the UK’s ongoing transition to a low carbon energy mix.”