Frigg Decommissioning Project

In 2007 Aker Solutions contracted with Shetland firm Peterson SBS and Veolia Environmental Services to tackle one of the largest single decommissioning lifts to date in the North Sea.

The task was to decommission Total’s Treatment and Compression Platform 2 (TCP2) module support frame, which weighed in at 8,730 tonnes. This was part of what was known as the Frigg Cessation Project.

Peterson SBS – the initials stand for Shetland Base Services – already had a considerable track record. Their strength lies in heavy lifting, built up over nearly 40 years in oil and gas. They teamed up with Veolia Environmental Services, a £multi-billion waste management business to offer a complete package.

Peterson SBS managed the engineering, planning, construction, fabrication and preparatory works to ready the site and barge for the trailer load-in of the module support frame (MSF) from a specialist S600 (skid railed) launch barge.

They also supplied cranage, haulage, cargo handling and labour. A large number of contractors and sub-contractors were involved, with specialist plant and labour provided by local companies and steelworks by on-site fabricators.

Staged decommissioning was undertaken by Veolia, including: a review of the inventory; decontamination, involving the opening, inspection, sampling and testing of systems, pipelines and vessels; draining of all fluids and the removal of asbestos, waste electrical and electronic equipment.

Veolia planned and managed its own skilled operators and specialist subcontractors for the three-month decontamination process. Deconstruction was then also overseen by Veolia, including planning and engineering of the method, and using a specialist subcontractor for the works.

Frigg - MCP-01 Platform 2008

Peterson SBS and Veolia Environmental Services also worked with main contractor Aker Solutions on decommissioning the Manifold and Compression Platform (MCP-01) under the Frigg Cessation Project in 2008. The project required shuttling daily deliveries of supplies and waste materials. Some 6,600 tonnes of scrap and waste in containers and medium-size pieces arrived at the Greenhead base.

Agency services, onshore logistics and transport requirements for all shuttling vessels were provided by Peterson SBS. This included certification and tracking of offshore containers (CCUs) and the cyclic transport, tipping and inspection process involved with the waste skips. It also included packing CCUs, supply of all logistics, equipment and consumables, along with food for a 330-strong workforce offshore. All supplies and requirements were sourced, certified, packaged and tracked.

Veolia was responsible for all waste management aspects of the operations. Their work encompassed: packaging and disposal of hazardous wastes; inspection of materials; segregating material streams; processing into transport sizes; stockpiling and load-out; and maintaining environmental accounting.

Peterson SBS and Veolia have now tabled plans to at least double the size of their decommissioning facility at Greenhead – already a vast 20,000m2 – to offer one of the largest specialist sites in the UK.

The two firms have also bid to break up Shell UK’s 50,000 tonne Brent Delta platform.

The Shell Brent Delta platform is the first of four major rigs on the oil giant’s former flagship Brent oil and gas field which will need to be decommissioned.

Delta ceased production in 2011. The rest of the field (platforms Brent Alpha, Bravo and Charlie) continues to produce oil and gas although these platforms are scheduled to cease production between 2014 and 2015.