A set of principles designed to drive information sharing within the UK’s North Sea energy industry and speed up the energy transition have now been finalised. Companies and other organisation’s active in the industry are signing up to a series of six principles, including a call for collaboration on improving the accuracy of digital models and digital twins.
Publication of the principles in early August follows a period of review after draft principles drawn up by a group backed by the UK’s North Sea Transition Authority, the energy industry regulator for the region, were put out for discussion in April.
The Data Principles Group, established by the UK’s Offshore Energy Digital Strategy Group (DSG), hopes the new principles with allow North Sea collaboration to progress towards creation of a fully integrated offshore energy system. The DSG, includes, among others, representatives from North Sea operators such as Shell and Petrofac, academic institutions, consultancies and the UK’s Crown Estate, which manages the country’s continental shelf.
The authors said sharing data could enable development of more accurate and robust predictive models, optimise resource allocation and lead to better decision making, offering new insights and fostering innovation while reducing risks.
“Collaboration to increase the quality and amount of relevant data available for digital models and AI is a transformative emerging paradigm,” said Ed Evans, Data Principles Group Chair and Senior Consultant at the Open Data Institute (ODI).
Data sharing would lead to more cost effective problem-solving and quicker resolution of issues and provide access to larger quantities of high-quality data for use AI and other technologies, while opening up new opportunities for learning from industry peers through knowledge exchange, the DSG said.
Evans described the principles as a guide to how data sharing should stimulate innovation and drive the energy transition.
The six principles set out a series of “desired actions and behaviours” with which signatory companies undertake to comply. In summary these are:
1. Joining forces with other players to accelerate progress towards a sustainable and resilient energy future via active participation in a shared data ecosystem, sharing data and collaborating on initiatives that promote lower carbon emissions and sustainable practices.
2. Increasing the value of internal data by using insights and innovations from external data sources. Applying AI and data science to sector-wide datasets should develop new solutions, unlock opportunities, cut costs and reduce risks.
3. Focusing on a use-case-by-use case approach, collaborating with relevant stakeholders to develop targeted solutions in order to prioritise challenges and reduce duplication.
4. Advancing the accuracy of digital models and digital twins through data sharing. Signatory companies recognise that sharing data and creating shared data models provides better visibility of infrastructure, logistical options, the subsurface and other aspects of the natural environment.
5. Facilitating accessible, secure data repositories for all stakeholders. Reusing or creating stewarded, trusted, secure, standardised, and accessible data sets
will aid data sharing, fostering higher quality and applied standards, while boosting innovation and knowledge exchange and the application of AI technologies.
6. Enhancing operational efficiency and reduced risk through data collaboration to allow a company to streamline its operations by integrating shared data into decision-making processes. This will optimise workflows, enhance efficiency and reduce risks through the application of shared data.
The DSG was set up following the publication of a 2021 report, Digitalising Offshore Energy Systems, which called on the oil and gas and renewables sectors to work together to use the North Sea to its full capacity and reduce emissions to meet net zero targets. Individual task forces were set up to collaborate on issues including data coordination and interoperability, enabling whole system planning and enhancing digital and data skills.
The Crown Estate laid some of the groundwork for improved data sharing by establishing a Marine Data Exchange to bring together, and make public, data and evidence for the offshore marine industry.
A dedicated LinkedIn page has been launched by the DSG to provide a focal point for members and other interested parties to share information relating to the principles and their objectives.
(Photo: Aberdeen harbour/Shutterstock)
