Operator Taqa UK is in process of decommissioning Brae Alpha platform in North Sea
A major contract has been awarded for the decommissioning of topsides at the Brae Alpha platform in the UK North Sea.
Operator Taqa UK has picked offshore contractor Allseas to carry out engineering, preparation, removal and disposal (EPRD) of the Brae Alpha topsides, following a competitive tender process.
The work is scheduled to begin later this year and will be a key part of one of the UK’s largest decommissioning programmes.
Allseas will deploy heavy-lift vessel Pioneering Spirit to remove the 33,000-tonne topsides and 12,000-tonne upper jacket, in two standalone campaigns.
Sandy Hutchison, managing firector of Taqa UK, said the work “represents a major project for a platform that has played a significant role in the UK’s energy security over four decades”.
Taqa has committed to reusing or recycling at least 95% of recovered topsides material.
Located around 270 kilometres northeast of Aberdeen, Brae Alpha began production in 1983. It has produced over 636 million barrels of oil equivalent during its lifetime.
Allseas is also carrying out the EPRD programme for Taqa UK’s North Cormorant, Tern, Eider and Cormorant Alpha assets in the North Sea as part of the largest single offshore decommissioning contract awarded in the UK to date.
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