North Sea oil and gas watchdog branching out into hydrogen

North Sea Transition Authority's powers are bing extended.

By Allister Thomas and Keith Findlay

September 6 2023, 6:31 pm

Marischal Square, Aberdeen, where tenants include the North Sea Transition Authority. Image: Kenny Elrick/ DC Thomson

The UK North Sea oil and gas watchdog is to also become the regulator for hydrogen storage and transport in British waters.

Following a UK Government consultation, the Aberdeen-based North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) will soon be the licensing and consenting authority for offshore hydrogen pipelines.

This will give it a similar role to the current arrangements for oil and gas.

Additional powers

NSTA will also have powers over hydrogen storage offshore, which will allow it to issue licences and become a consultee on environmental regulator Opred’s decisions on decommissioning and repurposing infrastructure.

The move has its roots in the government’s hydrogen strategy, launched in 2021.

It is also in line with an ambition for 10 gigawatts (GW) of low carbon hydrogen capacity to be available in the UK by 2030.

Hydrogen tank with wind turbines in the background. — Image: Shutterstock

NSTA strategy director Hedvig Ljungerud said: “This decision highlights the importance of hydrogen in a net-zero future and further cements the NSTA’s role in driving forward the energy transition. We fully appreciate the need for an integrated energy basin and firmly believe we are best placed to deliver it.

“It is also vital for the development of the wider hydrogen economy, which the NSTA will support alongside our ongoing work in carbon storage and fossil fuels.”

Three-week countdown

The plans were placed in parliament today and, subject to approval, NSTA will become the offshore hydrogen regulator within 21 days.

According to the government, 5GW of low carbon production could produce hydrogen equivalent to the amount of gas consumed by more than 3 million households in the UK every year.

This new, low carbon hydrogen could help provide cleaner energy to power our economy and everyday lives – from cookers to power plants, to the heat in our homes.

More than eight years of offshore regulation inspired by Sir Ian Wood

NSTA, previously the Oil and Gas Authority, is headquartered in Marischal Square.

It was launched in April 2015 as an executive agency of the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Its creation was a recommendation of Sir Ian Wood’s Wood Review of the UK’s offshore oil and gas sector.