  This study sets out to analyze future synergies between the O&G and
renewables sectors and explore how exploiting these synergies could lead to
economic and environmental benefits. By firstly reviewing and highlighting
relevant technologies and related projects, this report synthesizes the state
of the art in offshore energy system integration, by focusing on three key
technologies in electrification/floating wind, electrolysis/hydrogen production
and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). With a timeframe out to 2050 and model
scope including all North Sea neighbouring countries, this analysis explores a
total of nine future scenarios for the North Sea energy system. The main
results include an immediate electrification of all operational DUC platforms
by linking them to the shore and/or a planned Danish energy island. These
measures result in cost and CO2 emissions savings compared to a BAU scenario of
72% and 85% respectively. When these platforms cease production, this is
followed by the repurposing of the platforms into hydrogen generators with up
to 3.6 GW of electrolysers and the development of up to 5.8 GW of floating
wind. The generated hydrogen is assumed to power the future transport sector,
and is delivered to shore in existing and/or new purpose-built pipelines. The
contribution of the O&G sector to this hydrogen production amounts to around 19
TWh, which represents about 2% of total European hydrogen demand for transport
in 2050. The levelized costs (LCOE) of producing this hydrogen in 2050 are
around 4 euro2012/kg H2, which is around twice those expected in similar
studies. But this does not account for energy policies that may incentivize
green hydrogen production in the future, which would serve to reduce this LCOE
to a level that is more competitive with other sources.

Physics and Society