Beatrice oil field
The Beatrice Oil Field is a small oilfield consisting of 3 platforms located 24 km off the north east coast of Scotland. It is nearing the end of its life and there are plans to build a 200 turbine wind farm once the oil field is extinct.
History and Development of the field
Beatrice was the first field to be developed in the Moray Firth area, and at 24 km from the shore that can be seen from the land. Beatrice comprises 4 conventional steel platforms: Beatrice A, and two single satellite platforms B and C.
First discovered and developed by Mesa Petroleum, and named after Mesa's founder T Boone Pickens' wife, it covers an area of around 23km2. The oil is 2,100m below the sea bed and about 8,000 tonnes of oil has been produced each day. Operation of the Beatrice oil field was then transferred to Ithaca Energy who took over operations in 2008.[1]
Platforms
The Beatrice A complex consists of 2 platforms bridge-linked (50.5 m): 1 drilling/quarter platform (AD) and 1 processing/power generation (AP).
Beatrice B satellite platform is located to 3 miles north-east of the A complex, and was installed later. It is a drilling and a water injection platform.
Beatrice C is designated a satellite water injection facility and was installed in September 1984. It pushes oil from the south-west end of the reservoir in direction of A. B and C are linked by pipelines with A.
Beatrice oil is exported via a 16-inch pipeline from the A complex to a short terminal at Nigg in the Cromarty Firth, where it is stored until tanker shipment.
Since 1986/87 Beatrice has a 132/33kV power cable (via submarine) from Dunbeath. It connects platform to mainland power supply. It is used when the platform is fuel gas deficient.[2]
Future of Beatrice Oil Field
The Beatrice Field is now nearing the end of its productive life and Talisman have explored the potential of the site for the world’s first deep water wind farm. Led by Talisman in partnership with Scottish and Southern Energy (and others), the Beatrice Wind Farm Demonstrator Project, at a cost of €41 million, saw two 5MW wind turbines installed adjacent to the Beatrice oil field.[3]
If the demonstrator project proves successful and the decision is made to proceed with the creation of a 200 turbine commercial wind farm, a second comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment, including consultation, would be undertaken for that development to assess the impact on the resident bottle nose dolphins and the commercial fishing grounds.[4]
The Inner Moray Firth is designated as a Special Protection Area for wildlife conservation purposes. The Moray Firth contains a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) designated under the EU Habitats Directive, which is one of the largest Marine Protection Areas in Europe. The SAC protects the inner waters of the Moray Firth, from a line between Lossiemouth (on the south coast) and Helmsdale (on the north coast) westwards and although the proposed windfarm is outside this area the companies involved are working to ensure that the wildlife will not be impact in any way not just in the operating of the windfarm but also in the building phase.