Wedoany.com Report-Jun 4, Sonardyne, a UK-based company, has been selected to provide baseline environmental monitoring services for the UK’s first offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) site. The project is being developed by the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), a joint venture between BP, Equinor, and TotalEnergies. Located approximately 75 kilometers east of Flamborough Head, the project includes an onshore CO₂ gathering network, compression facilities, and a 145-kilometer offshore pipeline connected to subsea injection systems in the Endurance saline aquifer, situated about 1,000 meters below the seabed.

Illustration of a seabed monitoring lander.

The infrastructure is designed to support the Teesside-based East Coast Cluster (ECC) carbon capture initiatives. These include NZT Power, H2Teesside, and Teesside Hydrogen CO₂ Capture, which were selected by the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) in March 2023 for connection to NEP as part of the UK’s cluster sequencing for carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS).

Under the terms of its contract, Sonardyne will deploy seabed landers at strategic points above and around the Endurance site to monitor environmental conditions. These landers will be equipped with Sonardyne’s Edge data processing system, acoustic through-water communication, and long-term power solutions to support remote, battery-operated deployment. The landers will also contain Sonardyne’s Origin 600 ADCP, Wavefront’s passive sonar array, and several third-party sensors.

According to Sonardyne, this combination of technologies enables the detection of small changes in water chemistry over a wide area. The data collected can be accessed wirelessly via subsea acoustic communication, removing the need for physical retrieval of the landers. Environmental monitoring will begin in the summer of 2026 and will continue for two years to establish baseline conditions before CO₂ transportation and storage operations commence.

Stephen Auld, Business Development Manager for Custom Projects at Sonardyne, stated: “Being selected to deliver subsea environmental monitoring for this landmark project is a real honour and a testament to Sonardyne’s significant experience and expertise in this field.”

He added: “As a company who are already carbon neutral in our UK operations, we are passionate about combatting climate change and the drive for carbon neutrality. We are delighted to be working with NEP in delivering cutting-edge marine technology to ensure their safe and successful offshore carbon storage operations.”

NEP holds the UK’s first Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage Licence under the Transportation and Storage Regulatory Investment (TRI) regime, which encourages private investment in long-term CCS infrastructure. The project also has a CO₂ storage permit from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).

Construction is expected to start in 2025, with first injection of CO₂ possible by 2027 and operations starting in 2028. The facility is licensed for an average annual injection of 4 million tons over 25 years, totaling up to 100 million tons of CO₂.

Noble Corporation, a U.S.-based offshore drilling company, will drill six wells for the project using its Noble Innovator jack-up rig, with operations scheduled to begin in Q3 2026. BP operates the project with a 45% stake, while Equinor also holds 45%, and TotalEnergies owns 10%.