Bureau Veritas and AYOP hook up to address decommissioning challenge

Testing, inspection, and certification specialist Bureau Veritas has joined Dutch advocacy and networking group Amsterdam IJmuiden Offshore Ports (AYOP), which has over 100 members, to tackle the decommissioning challenge.

AYOP’s members include companies, regional government bodies, and research & education institutes active in offshore oil & gas and the wind energy sector in the North Sea Canal region.

Innovation, knowledge sharing, and cross-sectoral cooperation are starting points for AYOP and its partners, with technological developments related to the energy transition playing a key role, AYOP said in a statement on Thursday.

Bureau Veritas has been active as a TIC (testing, inspections and certification) partner to companies in the offshore sector since the start of oil & gas extraction from the North Sea, offering support at every phase of installation from new builds and modifications to decommissioning. In addition to certification and lifetime extension (LTE) assessments, the start-up of installations, pipelines, and wind farms are other significant aspects in its service provision.

Energy generation via hydrogen and wind as well as the future storage of CO2 in abandoned gas fields (CSS) are other areas in which Bureau Veritas contributes its knowledge and expertise in order to fulfil its ambitions in the energy transition and offshore energy sector.

As key account manager Patrick Bakker explains, Bureau Veritas chose to join AYOP for a number of reasons: “Developments in offshore are moving fast. The need to supply sustainable and environmentally friendly energy is stimulating engineering firms, manufacturers and operators to develop innovative and cost-effective solutions.

“While the working conditions, and safety of people and the environment, as well as the related compliance, obviously take priority, it is also crucial to reduce lifecycle costs and maximise the availability of assets to make oil, gas or electricity affordable. Bureau Veritas aims to contribute to this and is pleased to now join AYOP.’’

Sylvia Boer, director of Amsterdam IJmuiden Offshore Ports, agrees: “As market leader in the testing, inspection and certification of renewables, Bureau Veritas is an essential link in the energy transition – one of AYOP’s main focal points. The company is familiar with the firms, EPC contractors, local government bodies and legislation, and can contribute its decommissioning expertise and experience to become a major partner in our decom activities. Bureau Veritas is a significant addition to the AYOP network.”