IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i21p13783-d951800.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Converting Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructures into Renewable Energy Generation Plants: An Economic and Technical Analysis of the Decommissioning Delay in the Brazilian Case

Author

Listed:
  • Jime Braga

    (Graduate Program in Maritime Studies, Brazilian Naval War College, Rio de Janeiro 22290-240, Brazil)

  • Thauan Santos

    (Graduate Program in Maritime Studies, Brazilian Naval War College, Rio de Janeiro 22290-240, Brazil)

  • Milad Shadman

    (Ocean Engineering Department, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-914, Brazil)

  • Corbiniano Silva

    (Civil Engineering Department, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-907, Brazil)

  • Luiz Filipe Assis Tavares

    (Ocean Engineering Department, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-914, Brazil)

  • Segen Estefen

    (Ocean Engineering Department, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-914, Brazil)

Abstract

The offshore harnessing of oil and gas resources is made possible by massive infrastructures installed at sea. At the end-of-life stage, in the absence of new uses for offshore installations, decommissioning proceedings usually take place, requiring the removal and final disposal of all materials. In Brazilian waters, decommissioning is hampered by high costs. The offshore wind-power sector has arisen as a new clean power source, in line with worldwide de-carbonization initiatives. In this context, we propose an innovative approach suggesting offshore wind power projects as an alternative to the removal and final disposal of infrastructures, a potential solution to Brazilian offshore decommissioning. In this article we report on the assessment of structures at the end of their lifecycle along with decommissioning cost estimation. Then, we explore wind turbine installation viability along the Brazilian coast and estimate the levelized cost of energy for each wind turbine. Finally, the results allow us to conduct a critical analysis of customary decommissioning versus the repurposing of infrastructures as offshore wind power project sites in two scenarios involving site repurposing. Our main results indicate that the CapEx discount rate of wind power projects offsetting decommissioning is considerable, as are the benefits of delaying decommissioning in terms of reduced carbon emissions and the social effects of increased local employment rates, through the repurposing of offshore oil and gas infrastructures.

Suggested Citation

  • Jime Braga & Thauan Santos & Milad Shadman & Corbiniano Silva & Luiz Filipe Assis Tavares & Segen Estefen, 2022. "Converting Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructures into Renewable Energy Generation Plants: An Economic and Technical Analysis of the Decommissioning Delay in the Brazilian Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:21:p:13783-:d:951800
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/21/13783/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/21/13783/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heptonstall, Philip & Gross, Robert & Greenacre, Philip & Cockerill, Tim, 2012. "The cost of offshore wind: Understanding the past and projecting the future," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 815-821.
    2. Nagababu, Garlapati & Kachhwaha, Surendra Singh & Savsani, Vimal, 2017. "Estimation of technical and economic potential of offshore wind along the coast of India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 79-91.
    3. Li, Lili & Taeihagh, Araz, 2020. "An in-depth analysis of the evolution of the policy mix for the sustainable energy transition in China from 1981 to 2020," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    4. Damien Guilbert & Gianpaolo Vitale, 2021. "Hydrogen as a Clean and Sustainable Energy Vector for Global Transition from Fossil-Based to Zero-Carbon," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-29, December.
    5. Milad Shadman & Corbiniano Silva & Daiane Faller & Zhijia Wu & Luiz Paulo de Freitas Assad & Luiz Landau & Carlos Levi & Segen F. Estefen, 2019. "Ocean Renewable Energy Potential, Technology, and Deployments: A Case Study of Brazil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-37, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Noor Amila Wan Abdullah Zawawi & Kamaluddeen Usman Danyaro & M. S. Liew & Lim Eu Shawn, 2023. "Environmental Sustainability and Efficiency of Offshore Platform Decommissioning: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-18, August.
    2. Rogeau, Antoine & Vieubled, Julien & de Coatpont, Matthieu & Affonso Nobrega, Pedro & Erbs, Guillaume & Girard, Robin, 2023. "Techno-economic evaluation and resource assessment of hydrogen production through offshore wind farms: A European perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    3. Erika Carvalho Nogueira & Rafael Cancella Morais & Amaro Olimpio Pereira, 2023. "Offshore Wind Power Potential in Brazil: Complementarity and Synergies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Milad Shadman & Mateo Roldan-Carvajal & Fabian G. Pierart & Pablo Alejandro Haim & Rodrigo Alonso & Corbiniano Silva & Andrés F. Osorio & Nathalie Almonacid & Griselda Carreras & Mojtaba Maali Amiri &, 2023. "A Review of Offshore Renewable Energy in South America: Current Status and Future Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-34, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. de Assis Tavares, Luiz Filipe & Shadman, Milad & Assad, Luiz Paulo de Freitas & Estefen, Segen F., 2022. "Influence of the WRF model and atmospheric reanalysis on the offshore wind resource potential and cost estimation: A case study for Rio de Janeiro State," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    2. de Assis Tavares, Luiz Filipe & Shadman, Milad & de Freitas Assad, Luiz Paulo & Silva, Corbiniano & Landau, Luiz & Estefen, Segen F., 2020. "Assessment of the offshore wind technical potential for the Brazilian Southeast and South regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    3. Nadège Bouchonneau & Arnaud Coutrey & Vivianne Marie Bruère & Moacyr Araújo & Alex Costa da Silva, 2023. "Finite Element Modeling and Simulation of a Submerged Wave Energy Converter System for Application to Oceanic Islands in Tropical Atlantic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Christoph Wolter & Henrik Klinge Jacobsen & Lorenzo Zeni & Georgios Rogdakis & Nicolaos A. Cutululis, 2020. "Overplanting in offshore wind power plants in different regulatory regimes," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), May.
    5. Levi, Peter G. & Pollitt, Michael G., 2015. "Cost trajectories of low carbon electricity generation technologies in the UK: A study of cost uncertainty," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 48-59.
    6. Knopf, Brigitte & Nahmmacher, Paul & Schmid, Eva, 2015. "The European renewable energy target for 2030 – An impact assessment of the electricity sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 50-60.
    7. Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Rasoulinezhad, Ehsan & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Vinh Vo, Xuan, 2021. "How energy transition and power consumption are related in Asian economies with different income levels?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    8. Ahmad Alzahrani & Senthil Kumar Ramu & Gunapriya Devarajan & Indragandhi Vairavasundaram & Subramaniyaswamy Vairavasundaram, 2022. "A Review on Hydrogen-Based Hybrid Microgrid System: Topologies for Hydrogen Energy Storage, Integration, and Energy Management with Solar and Wind Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-32, October.
    9. Geels, Frank W. & Kern, Florian & Fuchs, Gerhard & Hinderer, Nele & Kungl, Gregor & Mylan, Josephine & Neukirch, Mario & Wassermann, Sandra, 2016. "The enactment of socio-technical transition pathways: A reformulated typology and a comparative multi-level analysis of the German and UK low-carbon electricity transitions (1990–2014)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 896-913.
    10. Yan, Peijian & Tian, Pengfei & Cai, Cheng & Zhou, Shenghu & Yu, Xinhai & Zhao, Shuangliang & Tu, Shan-Tung & Deng, Chengwei & Sun, Yi, 2020. "Antioxidative and stable PdZn/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst coatings concerning methanol steam reforming for fuel cell-powered vehicles," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    11. Gao, Xiaoxia & Yang, Hongxing & Lu, Lin, 2014. "Study on offshore wind power potential and wind farm optimization in Hong Kong," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 519-531.
    12. Chenglong Guo & Wanan Sheng & Dakshina G. De Silva & George Aggidis, 2023. "A Review of the Levelized Cost of Wave Energy Based on a Techno-Economic Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-30, February.
    13. Jan K. Kazak & Joanna A. Kamińska & Rafał Madej & Marta Bochenkiewicz, 2020. "Where Renewable Energy Sources Funds are Invested? Spatial Analysis of Energy Production Potential and Public Support," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-26, October.
    14. Geels, Frank W. & Ayoub, Martina, 2023. "A socio-technical transition perspective on positive tipping points in climate change mitigation: Analysing seven interacting feedback loops in offshore wind and electric vehicles acceleration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    15. Satir, Mert & Murphy, Fionnuala & McDonnell, Kevin, 2018. "Feasibility study of an offshore wind farm in the Aegean Sea, Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2552-2562.
    16. Sun, Xiaojing & Huang, Diangui & Wu, Guoqing, 2012. "The current state of offshore wind energy technology development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 298-312.
    17. Adriano Silva Bastos & Tâmara Rita Costa de Souza & Dieimys Santos Ribeiro & Mirian de Lourdes Noronha Motta Melo & Carlos Barreira Martinez, 2023. "Wave Energy Generation in Brazil: A Georeferenced Oscillating Water Column Inventory," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-24, April.
    18. Wenbin Su & Hongbo Wei & Penghua Guo & Ruizhe Guo, 2021. "Remote Monitoring and Fault Diagnosis of Ocean Current Energy Hydraulic Transmission and Control Power Generation System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-18, July.
    19. Huang, Shi-Zheng, 2022. "The effect of natural resources and economic factors on energy transition: New evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    20. Badr Eddine Lebrouhi & Eric Schall & Bilal Lamrani & Yassine Chaibi & Tarik Kousksou, 2022. "Energy Transition in France," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-28, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:21:p:13783-:d:951800. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.