About the programme
Offshore infrastructure, such as oil and gas platforms, and offshore wind turbines, alongside a global shipping fleet, provide industries and populations around the globe with energy, raw materials, manufactured goods and food. As the world continues to become more interconnected, and in the push to transition to renewable energy systems, we will see huge growth in offshore infrastructure over the coming years. Given that offshore environments are some of the harshest in the world, the structures built for this context are designed to withstand extreme conditions.
While such robust design is necessary to achieve safety through the design life, when these large-scale structures reach the end of their productive life and need to be decommissioned or repurposed, significant safety risks can emerge. These risks span from working in challenging offshore conditions on old structures that may be less safe due to corrosion or fatigue, to introducing potential issues of justice and human rights breaches once structures have been dismantled and transported to shore.
Despite these immense risks and challenges, the end of life of offshore infrastructure is often overlooked or an afterthought. The Safer End of Engineered Life Programme works to change this – we want to raise awareness and broader understanding of the potential issues. As we do this, we are engaging a diverse and global community from all aspects of end of life of offshore structures.
If you are working in or affected by end of life processes, we want to hear from you, so please get in touch with us by emailing Ann-Sophie Freund, Programme Manager: [email protected].
Our work
Our work to date is focused on two aspects of safety of offshore infrastructures and ships.
- Safer Decommissioning of Offshore Structures and Ships
- Safer End of Life for Offshore Wind
Safer Decommissioning of Offshore Structures and Ships
Tackling the complex social, environmental and engineering challenges of decommissioning ships and offshore structures.
Safer End of Life for Offshore Wind Infrastructure
The Engineering X Safer End of Engineered Life programme seeks to raise awareness of the importance of safety at the end of life of offshore wind and inspire global action.