National Subsea Centre is aiming to make waves - ProfJohn McCall

The National Subsea Centre (NSC) in Aberdeen was officially launched last month and it was fantastic to welcome Michael Matheson, Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport and UK Government Minister for Scotland, Malcolm Offord to our inauguration.

It also meant we could throw open the centre’s doors to our partners and media to showcase our three strategic research programmes: Transparent Ocean, Integrated Energy and Net Zero Operations.

The researchers based at the NSC are working to find solutions to major issues faced by the energy industry. We hope that by using our expertise in the fields of data science, Artificial Intelligence and simulation, it can help the sector tackle issues of reduced emissions from operations, cost-effective and resilient power grids and the need to develop a highly skilled digital workforce.

However, the NSC cannot do this in isolation, and it is vital that we collaborate closely with our partners and the sector so we can all move towards the aim of accelerating the energy transition.

Prof John McCall speaking at the NSC launch

As a species, we need to make the energy transition a priority. We cannot be guided by past practices as we are facing numerous challenges including the energy crisis, war, inflation, employment, post-pandemic changes to supply chain and demand. We need better resources and information about our critical infrastructure and have to improve our ability to adapt intelligently to alleviate these issues. With the energy crisis taking its toll, there is an urgent need to a shift from an economy which depends heavily on fossil fuels to a more sustainable, low carbon economy.

The energy transition involves new ways of generating power. It's about bringing together the whole range of energy sources (wind, solar, tidal, hydrogen, bio energy) present offshore and bringing these together, storing them and transporting them to where they are needed via a well streamlined supply chain. Then there’s decommissioning, involving plugging and abandoning oil and gas wells then removing and repurposing infrastructure at the end of its useful life. This is a complex process which requires bringing together resources, investors and partners.”

At the NSC, we work collaboratively to find innovative solutions to industry challenges in an environment where positive disruptive thinking is encouraged. We are empowered by the drive to develop smart digital and engineering technologies to enable a faster, more cost-effective and sustainable transition to a net zero energy basin, both locally in the North Sea, and globally in other offshore energy environments. In order to achieve this, we have a leading team of experts with extensive knowledge and experience in the key academic disciplines needed to support our impactful research programmes.

Professor John McCall, Director, National Subsea Centre.