Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit has removed the Eider Alpha platform topside for operator TAQA UK in a single-lift operation.
The 11,606-mt topside is now heading east to AF Environmental Base in Vats, Norway, where it will undergo dismantling and recycling. TAQA’s target is to recover up to 97% materials recovery from its decommissioned structures.
Preparations for the removal had included 90 days of using Allseas’ Oceanic vessel to ensure a safe and efficient lift. Allseas will perform further offshore lifts for TAQA in the UK northern North Sea over the next few years at North Cormorant, Tern and Cormorant Alpha.
The Able Seaton Port yard in northeast England will dismantle the Cormorant Alpha and Tern topsides.
Eider’s platform, installed by original developer Shell in 1988, went on to produce about 175 MMboe (55,000 bbl/d at peak), and later also production from the Otter Field via a subsea tieback.
TAQA UK became operator in 2008, and it continued to invest in extending the platform’s economic life until cessation of production in 2018. Until 2024, Eider had also provided power to North Cormorant and the subsea controls and utilities for Otter.
