An extra £5m sum has been dedicated to the Decommissioning Challenge Fund (DCF) fund that will re-open for a third round of financing.

The DCF will help to support the country’s port infrastructure upgrades, innovation in retrieval and transportation methods, and oil and gas supply chain projects to bolster decommissioning capabilities.

North sea Decommissioning: Photo Credit Steven Straiton

In addition, it will back engineering scoping work, feasibility studies and business development at certain sites in order to obtain private investment.

According to the Scotland Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, Paul Wheelhouse, decommissioning is an emerging, but growing, activity in the North Sea and therefore, Over £17 billions is estimated to be spent in the North Sea to 2025. However, the finishing of the project is predicted to exceed 2025.

“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.” Wheelhouse said.

The DCF third round is open until 28 September of this year. The fund will be delivered by a DCF Programme Board drawn from the government and industry.

Previously, the fund supported multiple projects, such as feasibility studies at Hunterston Marine Yard, upgrades to Kishorn Port dry dock gates and infrastructure, Stornoway Port decommissioning, and Energy Park Fife decommissioning facility at Methi.

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