The North Sea will play a vital role in delivering an orderly energy transition which drives the UK to net zero, supports the nation’s energy security, and creates high-skilled jobs, boosting the economy.
As well as abundant carbon and hydrogen storage capacity and wind resources, the UK is blessed with an expert supply chain which can integrate these assets, including with repurposed oil and gas infrastructure, helping them reach their full potential and achieving synergies.
The climate crises demands that this work happens at pace, and the NSTA is at the heart of this process. Following extensive collaboration with industry, government and other regulators, we ran the world’s first ever large-scale carbon storage licensing round and awarded the UK’s first permit for carbon storage in the UK’s North Sea, kickstarting a multibillion-pound industry. The NSTA also has responsibility for the licensing and consenting of offshore hydrogen pipelines and offshore hydrogen storage.
The NSTA provided significant input into the INTOG offshore wind leasing processes, which aims to decarbonise platforms using wind power. Our ever-expanding suite of spatial and subsurface mapping tools is being used to accommodate a range of energy technologies in the North Sea and explore opportunities to integrate them.
