The North Sea through the energy transition

Abstract

Abstract The energy transition has started. While traditional petroleum exploration and production will become increasingly difficult, the offshore region around the UK, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands offers many opportunities for companies prepared to embrace low-carbon energy and related activities. We present 19 ideas for new sustainable business. If climate commitments are to be met, the scale of the transformation will be immense. Assuming the economics of floating technologies improve, we envisage the majority of the North Sea (>100,000km2) to be repurposed for renewable power and related activities. In order to fully unlock the future value in wind, solar and ocean energies, as well as in subsurface storage, companies and governments will need to work together to create an integrated energy system.