Genuine Geomatics & Safety Ltd.

🎄🌟 Merry Christmas from Genuine Geomatics & Safety (GGS)! 🌟🎄 As 2024 comes to an end, we’re taking a moment to reflect on a year filled with hard work, fantastic journeys, and many achievements. From January to December, we’ve been proud to deliver both exceptional offshore survey representation and in-depth lecture courses. This year, Paul has: 🌍 Crossed the Atlantic and back 🛫 Visited Singapore (twice!), New York, New Jersey, Scotland, Scrabster, Portugal (twice), and Lowestoft 📅 Completed 163 survey days and 10 lecturing days ✈️ Spent a total of 179 days away from home We couldn’t have done it without the support of our incredible partners - thank you, Verisub, for your collaboration throughout the year. As we pause for the holidays (returning January 6th!), we’re keeping in mind those spending the festive season far from home. Whether offshore, on assignments, or supporting operations, it’s a reminder of the many sacrifices made across our industry at this time of year. 2025 is already shaping up to be just as exciting, and we’re ready to embrace the challenges and opportunities ahead. Wishing all our clients, and partners a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here’s to a safe and successful 2025. 🎉 IPMA Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, AW Ship Management, Cefas

🚢 Following his recent success delivering a course for IPMA in Lisbon, this week, Paul Turnbull has been delivering a Health and Safety Coaching Course onboard the Cefas Endeavour in Lowestoft. It’s been two years since Paul last delivered training on the Endeavour, and we’re excited to see the progress made since then. While there is always more work to be done to improve safety practices, the course this week demonstrated just how much has improved in terms of operational efficiency, and team engagement. The course in Lowestoft brings together professionals aiming to enhance their safety leadership skills within the offshore sector. Paul’s hands-on approach, leveraging his wide industry experience, provides participants with practical insights enabling safer work environments and stronger safety cultures. A big thank you to all the attendees from Cefas, AW Ship Management and the marine crew for their commitment and engagement throughout the week. ✉️ Interested in enhancing your team’s offshore skills? Contact us on LinkedIn or email [email protected] to discuss booking a tailored course for your organisation. Image source: AW Ship Management

🌍 Back from Lisbon! After his recent offshore wind energy work with IPMA Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera and Verisub off the coast of Portugal, we’re happy to share that Paul Turnbull has now successfully concluded a week-long course in Offshore Client Representation for IPMA. The course was delivered to a fantastic group of professionals and received great feedback The training, held in Lisbon, provided valuable insights into the vital role of client representation in the offshore industry drawing from Paul's extensive experience. It was a privilege to collaborate with such an engaged and enthusiastic group (Pedro Terrinha, Pedro Costa, Pedro Brito, Luis Filipe Rodrigues Batista, Ângela Pereira, Carlos Ribeiro, Marta Neres, Vitor Hugo Magalhaes, Ruben B., Tanya Mendes Silveira, Marcos Rosa, André Fernandes, Corina Chaves) thank you for your participation and dedication! At GGS, we’re proud to continue contributing to the ongoing development of expertise in the offshore energy sector. We’re also keeping a close eye on industry advancements that showcase the exciting future of sustainable energy and operations: 🌬️ Ocean Winds, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE, has signed an MoU with Hyundai Steel to collaborate on the Hanbando offshore wind project in South Korea. The MoU focuses on developing a domestic supply chain and ensuring supply chain stability for the 1,245 MW project, currently in its early development phase. Ocean Winds is also advancing floating wind projects off Ulsan with a combined capacity of 1,125 MW, alongside other global ventures across eight countries. 🛥️ Chile’s Empresa Nacional del Petróleo (Enap) and SAAM Towage have launched Latin America’s first electric tugboat at the Sanmar shipyard in Turkey. Designed by Robert Allan, the 25-meter-long vessel with a 70-ton bollard pull features electric propulsion that eliminates greenhouse gas emissions and reduces environmental and underwater noise. The tug will operate in Puerto Chacabuco, Chile, under a 2024 agreement between Enap and SAAM, providing sustainable berthing services. After sea trials, the vessel is expected to arrive in Chile in the first half of 2025. ✉️ Interested in enhancing your team’s offshore skills? Contact us on LinkedIn or email [email protected] to discuss booking a tailored course for your organisation.

📚 Midway through the Offshore Client Representative course in Lisbon, Paul reports great engagement from participants! Participant’s enthusiasm reflects the industry's bright future and the importance of cultivating skilled professionals in offshore energy. 🚢 UK-based start-up Carnot, supported by a £2.3 million government grant, is partnering with Compact Syngas Solutions Limited to power a 40-day sea trial of its 70%-efficient, 50 kW hydrogen auxiliary marine engine. The trial, scheduled for March 2025, will take place aboard a Carisbrooke Shipping Ltd cargo vessel traveling between Bristol and Belfast, using 200 kilograms of hydrogen produced from waste. Compact Syngas Solutions recently received £4 million in funding to enhance its biomass-to-hydrogen processes with carbon capture technology. ⚖️ The UK’s North Sea oil and gas projects, including Equinor’s Rosebank and Shell’s Jackdaw fields, face uncertainty as climate activists challenge their approval in court. Both projects promise significant energy contributions, with Rosebank expected to produce 8% of the UK’s oil output by 2030 and Jackdaw projected to heat 1.4 million homes at its peak. However, activists argue the approvals failed to account for scope 3 emissions, leveraging the UK Supreme Court's Finch ruling as precedent. The court battle, which concluded hearings in mid-November, could either derail these multibillion-dollar ventures or set a landmark decision on fossil fuel accountability. 🌎 As part of US president Biden’s "Investing in America" agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $2.2 billion to two clean hydrogen hubs: the Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub, led by HyVelocity, and the Midwest Hydrogen Hub, led by the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen. These hubs will leverage renewable energy, natural gas, and nuclear power to produce and distribute clean hydrogen, with Gulf Coast focusing on electrolysis and carbon capture and Midwest targeting decarbonisation of industries and heavy transportation. These projects are part of the DOE’s H2Hubs program, aiming to establish a national hydrogen network, lower carbon emissions, and drive industrial decarbonisation in line with the U.S. 2030 clean hydrogen production goals. ✉️ Interested in enhancing your team’s offshore skills? Contact us on LinkedIn or email [email protected] to discuss booking a tailored course for your organisation. Image source: MarcusShips

🚢✈️ Following his recent offshore work in the wind energy sector with IPMA Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera and Verisub, Paul Turnbull of GGS is excited to deliver a comprehensive Offshore Client Representative course next week in Lisbon, hosted by IPMA. This course is designed to equip participants with a wide range of knowledge, skills and expertise gained from real-world offshore projects and draws from Paul’s extensive experience. Key modules will include: ✅ HSE ✅ Management & Leadership ✅ Understanding of Offshore Surveys ✅ Project Management The program reflects the growing demand for skilled professionals in offshore energy as the industry continues to evolve. We’re proud to contribute to building expertise in this crucial sector. ✉️ Interested in enhancing your team’s offshore skills? Contact us on LinkedIn or email [email protected] to discuss booking a tailored course for your organisation.

As the offshore sector continues to evolve, here are a few industry updates that have caught our attention this week at GGS. 🔌 SSEN Transmission has started work on a new electricity substation in Finstown, marking a major milestone for the Orkney-Caithness 220kV Subsea Link, which will connect the Orkney Islands to the UK mainland for the first time. In partnership with BAM and Siemens Energy, SSEN Transmission broke ground on the site, while Nexans will supply offshore interconnector components from facilities in Norway, Belgium, and Switzerland. The project includes 14 kilometres of underground cables to Warebeth and 53 kilometres of subsea cables to a new substation in Dounreay, Caithness. Expected to energise by 2028, the link will connect over 220MW of renewable energy to the GB grid, supporting SSEN’s Pathway to 2030 program, a £20 billion initiative to upgrade transmission infrastructure in northern Scotland. A community Q&A event is scheduled for November 14 to discuss project details with local residents. 🌊 Ofgem has approved five new undersea energy links, two of which will be Great Britain’s first offshore hybrid assets (OHAs), all targeted for completion by 2032. These OHAs include the 1.8 GW LionLink, connecting Dutch offshore wind farms to the British grid, and the 1.4 GW Nautilus, linking Belgian wind farms to the UK. Nautilus also connects to Princess Elisabeth Island, forming a basis for a meshed offshore grid. Additional interconnectors include the Tarchon Energy Interconnector (East Anglia to Germany), MaresConnect (Wales to Ireland), and LirIC (Northern Ireland to Scotland). Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator project that Great Britain could become a net energy exporter by 2030, reducing reliance on gas imports. ⚓ Portsmouth International Port has begun installing a shore power system that will allow ships to connect to clean electricity while docked, enabling them to switch off engines and reduce emissions. The project, funded with £19.8 million from the UK Department for Transport and £4.6 million from Portsmouth City Council, includes a 600-metre, 33-kilovolt cable linked to renewable power. Set to go live in spring 2025, the system will support up to three ships simultaneously and will primarily serve Brittany Ferries' new hybrid LNG-electric vessels. The system is expected to cut around 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually from 2027. ✉️ Connect with us on LinkedIn or email [email protected] to explore how our expertise can support your offshore energy projects. Image source: SSEN Transmission Transmission

This week, the GGS team has been following some exciting industry trends and updates. Here’s what’s caught our eye! 🔥 Wärtsilä has introduced its NextDF technology to the Wärtsilä 25DF dual-fuel LNG engine to curb methane emissions. While LNG serves as a transition fuel, a small portion of its methane can escape unburned, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Wärtsilä’s NextDF technology reduces methane emissions to below 2% of fuel use, reaching as low as 1.1% across various loads, with nitrogen oxide emissions also significantly lower than previous models. The NextDF feature, which can also be retrofitted to Wärtsilä's 31DF engines, will be available for Wärtsilä 25DF engines starting in the second half of 2025, offering ship operators regulatory and financial advantages by futureproofing their fleets. 🌍 The Carbon Iceland project, launched in October 2024, aims to capture over one million tons of CO₂ annually from Iceland’s largest smelters, beginning with Norðurál, to produce renewable marine fuel for Iceland’s fishing and maritime sectors. Siemens Energy and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are key partners, providing expertise in energy optimization and carbon capture technology, respectively. The first facility will be built at Grundartangi, with an off-take agreement already in place with Icelandic fishery Útgerðarfélag Reykjavíkur. Carbon Iceland also plans to export renewable fuels to Europe and the U.S., supported by partners including Maersk, bp, and the University of Iceland. 🌊 HydroWing Ltd, part of Inyanga Marine Energy Group, has secured a binding agreement with PLN Subholding, Indonesia’s national grid owner, to build Indonesia's first 10 MW tidal energy plant in East Nusa Tenggara. This project, selected for its high tidal energy potential, follows a 2022 MoU to expedite tidal energy deployment across Indonesia. The HydroWing system, which rests on the seabed with turbines that harness both incoming and outgoing tides, will be tested through feasibility studies, surveys, and environmental assessments. Connect with us on LinkedIn or email [email protected] to explore how our expertise can support your offshore energy projects. Image source: Wärtsilä

Here are some of the latest offshore news stories we've been keeping our eye on at GGS: ⚖️ Shell and Equinor are set for a November 12 court battle over their Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gas projects in UK waters, as environmental groups Greenpeace and Uplift challenge their development on climate grounds. The UK government recently withdrew its legal support for these projects, citing a new Supreme Court precedent that requires consideration of emissions from burning fossil fuels. Jackdaw, projected to supply 6% of UK North Sea gas, and Rosebank, covering 8% of UK oil output, both face opposition for their expected CO2 emissions. 🌍 Spanish energy giant CEPSA has rebranded as Moeve, signalling its transformation under the 2030 Positive Motion strategy to become a leader in sustainable energy and mobility. This shift includes an €8 billion investment, with over 60% directed toward green hydrogen, second-generation biofuels, sustainable chemicals, and ultra-fast electric charging. CEO Maarten Wetselaar highlighted Moeve’s commitment to sustainable profit generation by 2030, with significant advancements in green molecule production. Since March 2022, the company has developed the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley (Europe's largest green hydrogen project), and pioneered a green maritime corridor connecting Algeciras, Huelva, and Rotterdam. Moeve is also constructing a large-scale biofuels plant in southern Europe and nearly 30 biomethane plants in Spain to promote renewable gas alternatives. 🛢️ Norwegian oil and gas company OKEA ASA has received a permit from the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) to drill an exploration well in the North Sea's Brage field under production license 055, valid through 2030. OKEA ASA, holding a 35.2% stake in the license alongside partners Lime Petroleum AS, DNO Norge AS, Petrolia Noco AS, and M Vest Energy AS, plans to drill this October from the Brage platform. This comes after OKEA ASA’s NOK 6.3 billion ($571 million) investment decision to develop the Bestla field, expected to produce 26,000 barrels per day by 2027, with an operational life extending to 2031. Connect with us on LinkedIn or email [email protected] to explore how our expertise can support your offshore energy projects. Image source: Aker Solutions

After wrapping up successful projects in Portugal and Singapore, Paul Turnbull is back in the UK for a well-deserved break. His efforts with IPMA’s wind energy project and the SEA-ME-WE 6 survey highlight GGS's commitment to excellence. We're also excited to announce that GGS has secured a new contract to deliver a client representative course for IPMA, further strengthening our partnership. 🌍 The Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has approved the construction of Germany's hydrogen core network, expected to be completed by 2032. Spanning 9,040 kilometers, the network will consist of 60% converted natural gas pipelines and cost €18.9 billion. It aims to support a hydrogen-based energy system with 101 GW feed-in and 87 GW exit capacities. Construction of the first hydrogen lines will begin in 2025, with regulatory and market frameworks still being developed to support the hydrogen ramp-up. ⚡ MT Group has signed a €10.5 million contract with Klaipeda State Seaport Authority to build the first green hydrogen production and refuelling station in the Baltic States. Located in the Port of Klaipeda, Lithuania, the station will produce 500 kilograms of hydrogen per day using electrolysis powered by up to 3 MW of renewable electricity. The hydrogen will be stored in high-pressure tanks and used for port operations, rail, road transport, and, in the future, commercial ships. Construction will start in 2025, contributing to Lithuania’s 2021–2030 Energy Development Program. 💨 All 80 turbines have been installed at Taiwan's 640 MW Yunlin Offshore Wind Farm, developed by Yunneng Wind Power Co., a subsidiary of Skyborn Renewables. Offshore construction began in 2020, with turbine installation starting in 2021 and resuming in 2024 after a winter break. The project, involving partners like Fred. Olsen Windcarrier and Shimizu Corporation, is set to be fully commissioned by the end of 2024. The wind farm has already supplied 1.6 TWh of renewable energy to the grid and will power over 600,000 households under 20-year power purchase agreements with Taiwan Power Co. Connect with us on LinkedIn or email [email protected] to explore how our expertise can support your offshore energy projects.

Credit where credit is deserved from our client representative Paul Turnbull Tech IOSH.