First ‘Top Side’ Arrives for Recycling Following JV With Peterson : Huge Offshore Oil Rig Arrives for Recycling by Veolia Partnership in UK

Working in partnership with logistics and risk management firm, Peterson and Control Union, Veolia has accepted the first offshore structure for recycling at their Great Yarmouth decommissioning facility.

The Shell Leman BH platform accommodation block, known as the ‘topside’, arrived into the harbour today and the 50m high steel jacket structure that supported the topside is due to follow later in July.

Veolia explained that the topside, which was previously used as living quarters for personnel working on the Leman BT and Leman BK platforms, has now come to its new home to be recycled.

The contract was awarded to the partnership by Boskalis, which is responsible for offshore removal and transport operations. With a target of achieving a 97% recycling and reuse rate, it covers the receipt and treatment of offshore assets and materials from 50km off the Norfolk coastline in the Southern North Sea.

Set up to provide a full decommissioning service Veolia-Peterson services include decontamination, deconstruction, waste management and environmental services together with associated integrated logistics, marine and quayside services.

Veolia said to date the joint venture has recovered over 80,000 tonnes of offshore materials and achieved ‘excellent’ environmental assessment ratings in the process.

Recovering offshore production platforms and facilities and decommissioning them in a responsible manner is routine business for operators as oil and gas fields reach the end of their productive life.

Decommissioning is a step in the lifecycle of any oil and gas project. According to Veolia, making use of the assets helps increase the sustainability of the industry and by using the new facilities the valuable materials that they contain can be carefully extracted and reused or resold if they have further use elsewhere.

Puropse Built

The purpose built Great Yarmouth decommissioning facility will manage the deconstruction and recycling of both topsides and jacket structures that comprise around 1600 tonnes of materials and assets. The Great Yarmouth facility is ideally placed to manage projects from the Southern and Central North Sea, supporting the local economy and supply chain. It has also provided employment opportunities through the creation of approximately 10 jobs, with further expansion and employment as the projects develop.

“These are valuable assets in our seas and by decommissioning these platforms we can unlock resources to give them a second, third or even fourth life,” explained Estelle Brachlianoff, Senior Executive Vice President, Veolia UK and Ireland.

“This latest project will continue to show how we can maximise the recycling of these platforms and drive sustainability in the industry. Our partnership has successfully delivered a number of projects over the last ten years, this latest one will further the growth of the business and local opportunities in Great Yarmouth,” she continued.

Peterson’s Regional Director Ron van der Laan added: “This project is a positive sign for Veolia - Peterson in Great Yarmouth, and follows the award of two contracts late last year. It will build on the successes achieved so far and represents a further step towards establishing Great Yarmouth as a centre of excellence.”

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