Aiming to develop and deploy technology to accelerate an affordable net zero energy industry,  the NZTC was developed as part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal, and has already co-invested over £253 million in technologies to reduce greenhouse emissions.

The NSTA regulates the oil, gas, and carbon storage industries in the North Sea, and aims to hold the industry to account on halving their upstream emissions by 2030.

The project will develop a comprehensive roadmap of current and future technologies, designed to provide asset operators with the solutions needed to produce accurate emission baselines, and support the implementation of emissions reduction strategies.

It will also assist the development of Emissions Reduction Action Plans (ERAPs), in which North Sea licensees outline the investments and projects they will undertake to cut operational emissions.

ERAPs are key to the delivery of the NSTA’s Net Zero Stewardship Expectation, published in March 2021.

In the publication, the Oil and Gas Authority expects the Upstream Oil and Gas Industry to reduce their emissions from all aspects of their operations, through the development of hydrocarbon projects, abandoning and decommissioning oil fields, and integrating net zero solutions across the industry.

To help operators achieve net zero goals, the ‘supplier agonistic’ technology roadmap will include factors such as the readiness of technologies, modification requirements, and indicative implementation costs.

This aims to assist asset operators in moving away from using predictive modelling, estimations and calculations, which may not provide accurate emissions data.

“We are excited to join forces with the North Sea Transition Authority to drive the development of this transformative technology roadmap.” said Rebecca Allison, Chief Operating Officer, NZTC.

“The roadmap will be a vital resource for operators of both fixed and floating installations and onshore terminals. They will be able to identify the readiness of different technologies and understand the specific measurement and monitoring requirements unique to their operations.”

Carlo Procaccini, Chief Technical Officer, NSTA said: “We believe that collaboration and knowledge-sharing are paramount in driving sustainable change. Since different operators have different emissions profiles, it is essential for each asset operator to accurately measure and monitor emissions such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and methane.

“Leveraging technology will significantly help to reduce emissions and promote sustainable practices across both onshore and offshore operations.”

The roadmap is expected to be publicly available in September 2023.

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Scotland has one of the most ambitious net zero targets in the world, with a roadmap leading to net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045. The UK, in contrast, as this goal set to 2050.

Key to this ambition is tracking current emissions across Scotland’s businesses and industry.