Abstract
The Beatrice Field is in the outer Moray Firth (UKCS Block 11/30a) approximately 22 km from the East Caithness Cliffs (Figure 1.1). Production began in 1981 with cessation approved in March 2015. The bridge‐ linked Beatrice Alpha Drilling (Beatrice AD) and Beatrice Alpha Production (Beatrice AP) platforms are centrally located in the field, with the Beatrice Bravo (Beatrice B) and Beatrice Charlie (Beatrice C) platforms located 5.6 km to the northeast and 5 km to the southwest of the Alpha complex respectively.
Crude oil was exported from Beatrice AP through a 67 km submarine pipeline to Shandwick Bay and a buried 9 km onshore section of pipeline carried the crude to the Nigg Oil Terminal. The onshore section of the pipeline and the oil terminal are not covered by the offshore DPs and are managed separately under a distinct legal framework. Power issupplied to the facilities by a 25 km submarine cable from Dunbeath and from two offshore Wind Turbine Generators (WTG) which are located to the south of the Beatrice Alpha complex. The cable and turbines will be decommissioned with the oil facilities.
The Beatrice Field was initially developed by Mesa Petroleum with first oil being produced in September 1981; in 1997 the field was transferred to Talisman Energy (UK) Limited. In 2007 Talisman Energy (UK) Limited and partners completed the installation of two 5MW wind turbine generators to test the potential for a deep‐water wind farm. Several wind farm projects are now being taken forward in the Moray Firth. In 2008 the field was leased to Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited who developed the adjacent Jacky Field with production exported through Beatrice facilities. Cessation of Production (CoP) from Beatrice was approved in March 2015 and Talisman Sinopec Energy (UK) Limited resumed ownership and operatorship and subsequently, following an acquisition changed its name to Repsol Sinopec Resources UK.
Field life extension options have been investigated and were all found to be sub‐economic, and consequently the facilities are to be decommissioned. Repsol Sinopec Resources UK has reviewed other reuse options for the facilities, and this has been a key consideration leading to a final decision on the nature and timing of the field decommissioning. A DP for Beatrice for the reuse of the platforms was originally approved in 2004 by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) ‐ relevant regulatory functions now reside within BEIS and OGA. This Programme was based on an agreement with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to use the Beatrice Complex for military training after CoP. The MoD has subsequently exercised their right to terminate the agreement, and therefore the DP is required to be updated.
Further re‐use options for the facilities have since been taken into consideration. Installation of the Beatrice wind turbine generators was completed in 2007 as a demonstrator project for future wind turbine developments in the area. Since 2007 developments in the design of wind turbines has advanced significantly and therefore the Beatrice WTG’s cannot economically be re‐used. An assessment was completed into how the Beatrice Wind turbines could be incorporated into the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) wind farm (to be installed 2017 – 2019) however the partners in that development cited the obsolete design and the associated high maintenance burden as a reason to exclude the two existing turbines from the development.
A community funded development option was also investigated. Although the wind turbines were considered suitable for reuse individually, the project stalled due to commercial and shareholder requirements. There was also the additional complexity that there is currently no grid connection from the Beatrice Wind Turbines, up until this point they have only provided power to the Beatrice platforms via inter‐field cables. The costs associated with this grid connection were prohibitive to advancing the community project.
As a result, the Beatrice wind turbines are currently scheduled for decommissioning at the same time as the removal of the Beatrice facilities (2024 – 2029).These DPs therefore explain the proposed decommissioning activities and are supported by a Comparative Assessment (CA) [Ref: 1] for the pipelines, subsea cables and stabilisation features and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) [Ref: 2].