Subsea Circular Economy Project Reducing Carbon Emissions

Aberdeenshire based startup, Legasea, have announced the successful completion of a significant circular economy project, requiring the disassembly of ten decommissioned Subsea Production Systems recovered from the Celtic Sea.

The innovative ‘Shore-to-Store’ service, supported by Scottish Enterprise’s Green Jobs Fund, has reduced the carbon footprint of subsea decommissioning operations, by taking subsea equipment that is no longer required, and finding routes to refurbish, recertify, remanufacture and reuse, keeping as many components as possible in use, with a projected annual carbon saving of 10,000 Tonnes CO2e.

The project is the culmination of several years of research and planning conducted by Legasea, involving engagement with a wide range of operators and service companies in the subsea sector, to develop a service which benefits the industry environmentally and economically.
Since establishing the company in 2018, Legasea have also consulted with a range of government and industry stakeholders, to ensure that the service is closely aligned with decommissioning and environmental policy, and the company has been awarded a SEPA Waste Management Licence, which permits Legasea to accept a range of material, defined as waste, from subsea decommissioning operations.

Commenting on the project completion, Lewis Sim, Legasea Managing Director, said “We are delighted with the progress made, with the introduction of the Shore-to-Store service to the subsea industry, and the support received from across the sector has been phenomenal.

Every member of our team has contributed towards this successful project, and they deserve a big thank you, as do all of the supply chain companies that helped to support the project. With more than 6,400 Trees installed globally, at least a quarter of which are in the North Sea; we look forward to assisting with many more decommissioning scopes, with the recovered parts supporting late-life operations in a sustainable manner”.

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