Real urgency to protect subsea infrastructure as world not looking bright, Dutch say

Subsea infrastructure is critical to the energy security in Europe and with the world not looking so bright there is a real urgency to get something going to protect this infrastructure, but the solution is not easy to find, panelists said at a discussion on seabed security organized by IRO, the Association of Dutch Suppliers in the Offshore Energy Industry, Royal Netherlands Navy and the Netherlands Embassy in Norway.

Held on board the hydrographic survey vessel HNLMS Snellius, moored in Norway’s Stavanger harbor, as part of the ONS 2024 conference, the session gathered Paul Flos from the Royal Netherlands Navy, René Peters, Program Manager for Energy Infrastructure at TNO and IRO board member, Sander van Luik from the recently-launched Seabed Security Experimentation Center (SeaSEC), and Mark Heine, CEO of Fugro and IRO Chair.

The speakers defined critical infrastructure as one that can threaten or affect energy security and the security of supply if some of it fails or a cable or pipeline is broken. With the North Sea having 3,000 kilometers of gas pipelines, plus a lot of cables, this is difficult to monitor on a daily basis.

TNO’s Peters noted that critical infrastructure in the North Sea related to the energy system, not only gas pipelines but also electrical and data infrastructure, is very sensitive and can potentially be a victim of sabotage. A huge amount of power cable infrastructure will come with the development of offshore wind in the Netherlands, currently standing at 5 GW with the goal of having 20 GW in the early 2030s, as well as interconnectors and other future infrastructure, including hydrogen if it becomes the gas of the future.

“Things are changing in the world. In Europe, there is a war going on and we expect it will not stop there in the near future. All analyses show that around 2027 something will happen in the world, either in Europe or the Far East. Although no bombs will drop immediately in the Netherlands or Norway, it will affect us, so we have to do stuff. We need to do differently than in the past. The world does not look so bright and we have to prepare,” Flos said.

To act on safeguarding the existing subsea infrastructure, a six-nation initiative called SeaSEC was launched in December 2023 by the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Norway and Sweden to develop new techniques and enable governments to monitor infrastructure in the North Sea and Baltic Sea up to a depth of 30 meters, including pipelines for oil & gas, platforms on which wind turbines are built and internet cables.

According to Sander van Luik from SeaSEC, common security concerns relate to such a big area that cooperation is a necessity, both civil-military and internationally, to address them, and urgency commands looking at applying existing solutions for new security challenges.

Van Luik noted that SeaSEC does not have the solutions to the problems but will work on understanding the relevant questions, how to have working solutions that are already used in the offshore industry, and will try to find solutions by working with asset owners and the industry, including both manufacturing companies and service providers.

In terms of what can be done to speed up the action, the panelists agreed that using civilian equipment is one option, which can be done without adjusting it, as well as exchanging ideas and data between countries. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) would be used for most of the work.

As a member of IRO, Dutch geo-data giant Fugro is looking to support the project. Heine said: “We have been collecting data offshore for many years all across the world, increasingly with ROVs and AUVs. This is the first time we are working with the Dutch Ministry of Defense. It is an open dialogue to see how our innovative technology, like the new 18-metre uncrewed surface vessel, can support protection of critical subsea infrastructure.”

The second panel on seabed security will be held at our Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference (OEEC). Start planning for November, check out the floorplan and SECURE YOUR TICKET. See you in Amsterdam!