EnQuest has confirmed the completion of a major decommissioning milestone, with the safe removal of the Heather Alpha topsides on 11 August. The Allseas-owned Pioneering Spirit heavy lift vessel removed the 15,300 tonne topsides in a single lift, the largest single lift planned in the North Sea this year.
Building on EnQuest's established top quartile decommissioning performance, which has seen the Group complete the plugging and abandonment of more than 80 North Sea wells in the past three years, the heavy lift marked the culmination of significant planning, engineering and offshore preparation work, which has been undertaken by EnQuest's in-house decommissioning team, working alongside Allseas and other specialist contractors.
The Heather topsides are currently in transit to Frederikshavn in Denmark, where the structure will be dismantled, with a continued focus on safe operations. It is expected that more than 95% of the structure will be recycled and repurposed, ensuring maximum material recovery and minimising the carbon footprint of the project.
You can view a short video of the lift operation here.
Commenting on the operation, EnQuest Decommissioning Director, John Allan said: 'The removal of the Heather Alpha topsides is a tremendous accomplishment for the EnQuest team, as well as our colleagues at Allseas and across the project support network. The Pioneering Spirit completed the lift in around 14 seconds, but that astonishing reality was only made possible by three years of meticulous planning, engineering and preparation works. After almost 50 years of operations in the North Sea, Heather Alpha's legacy is to be an exemplar of a best-in-class decommissioning project, from inception to the responsible recycling of its materials.'
Source: EnQuest
