New decommissioning hub

Established under a memorandum of understanding between the port and CessCon Decom, the new hub will be located within Crathes Quay at the South Harbour. It will begin delivering dismantling, recycling and reuse services with a key focus on subsea infrastructure from Q3 2022.

“Decommissioning is an important part of the UK’s energy transition and there are growing opportunities to reuse, repurpose and recycle material during the decommissioning process,” said Bob Sanguinetti, chief executive, Port of Aberdeen.

The South Harbour decommissioning hub will offer heavy lift zones, impermeable concrete dismantlement and processing areas, water collection and treatment facilities, material storage areas, offices and canteen facilities.

The agreement expands the decommissioning services currently offered at the Port’s North Harbour and CessCon’s Energy Park Fife Decommissioning Facility.

“The new facility will be capable of handling turnkey decommissioning projects and the associated vessels,” said Lee Hanlon, chief executive, CessCon Decom.

“The substantial laydown and processing areas and water depths allow us to accommodate vessels up to 300 metres in length. With direct access to the North Sea, the facility is well placed to service the growing decommissioning market in parallel with our Energy Park Fife Decommissioning Facility in Methil, Fife.”

The South Harbour has undergone a £400 million expansion enhancing the port’s capacity and adding 1.4kmm of deepwater berths, considerable heavy-lift, flexible laydown space and project areas.

The expanded Port of Aberdeen is at the heart of the North East Scotland Green Freeport bid which aims to create up to 32,000 jobs, boost the value of goods and services in the area by £8.5 billion and transform the region into the ‘Net Zero Capital of Europe’.