INTOG Leasing
Cerulean successfully secured exclusive rights to develop the Aspen site under the Targeted Oil and Gas category of the INTOG offshore leasing round in 2023.
The INTOG leasing round was specifically established to support the UK in achieving decarbonisation targets set out within the North Sea Transition Deal, with a specific focus on reducing emissions associated with offshore O&G production via electrification.
INTOG is the first offshore leasing round globally to include an industry-specific emission reduction purpose, aligned with the UK Government’s decarbonisation targets under the North Sea Transition Deal (NSTD) published in March 2021. Under the NSTD O&G Operators agreed to a 50% emissions reduction target before 2030. INTOG projects will address the urgent need to ensure industrial decarbonisation through the electrification of O&G installations, so as to enable the UK to meet its net zero and carbon abatement targets.
Since the launch of INTOG the UK Government has appointed an Advisory Commission for Mission Control to accelerate the UK’s mission for Clean Power by 2030. NESO, commissioned by DESNZ, has published advice on the pathway towards this 2030 ambition, which clearly states that there is no path to clean power without the mass deployment of offshore wind. The NESO report also emphasises the importance of government support towards catalysing innovation and de-risking cutting-edge technologies, ensuring long-term sustainability and global scalability.
The success of INTOG developments will pave the way for successful developments of other FLOW projects in the future, such as from the ScotWind rounds. Critical supply chain and related infrastructure created by INTOG developers will become available to support ScotWind developments who will, in turn, provide this benefit of a lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) to UK consumers.