PONTICELLI UK: Engineering Energy Progress on UKCS

Activity on the UK Continental Shelf, in the cold and deep waters that surround the island, is changing. With the country still largely powered by natural gas and oil, reserves are prized and precious but becoming more elusive. At the same time, the energy transition is gathering momentum with significant investment being made to secure the UK’s position within the developing renewables marketplace. It’s a complicated environment and challenging when planning longer-term strategies.

The skills required to grow in this changing energy marketplace are extensive. Engineering, construction, and maintenance will remain key to successful and sustainable energy production. Drawing on decades of expertise enabling change across the energy sector, Ponticelli UK is fully committed to leading the energy transition and supporting businesses to develop innovative energy projects.

Part of the global Ponticelli Group, family-owned and headquartered in France, Ponticelli UK represents the regional arm of this multinational organisation, with operating turnover of €1bn in 2022.

“We established our UK operations in 2019, leading Aberdeen-based consortium PBS by Ponticelli, alongside Brand Energy & infrastructure Services and Semco Maritime. February 2020 saw the award of a five-year General Maintenance and Operating Contract to PBS by TotalEnergies E&P UK,” explains MD Olivier Renaud.

Renaud, moved with his family from France to Scotland after 18 years with the company managing projects cross Africa, responsible for project Zinia in Angola. 

He details more about a key job where PBS by Ponticelli’s service portfolio has proved invaluable.

“We recently completed a specific project to change a compressor where we engineered the internal mechanism to change the process of exporting gas.

“This project was completed at the Shetland Gas Plant (SGP), operated by TotalEnergies, where the PBS by Ponticelli consortium successfully executed a £5m+ engineering, procurement, and construction project to allow the plant’s operating mode to be switched from High-Pressure to Low-Pressure.”

UNCOMPROMISING EXPERTISE

“All Ponticelli Freres Group operations are fully aligned in terms of corporate strategy, and whilst Ponticelli UK welcomes uncompromising expertise and competencies from the Group’s global headquarters in France, it enjoys the autonomy to make its own decisions based on local market forces and requirements in line with the energy transition. If we identify opportunities that bring value to the Group then there is no reason we cannot pursue them,” says Renaud.

“Expansion beyond oil and gas will likely come in the booming UK offshore wind energy sector, where turbines are being erected weekly and feeding into the grid as part of a renewable and green policy which hopes to produce 50GW by 2030. With multiple construction and engineering projects underway, this is an attractive market for Ponticelli UK.

“In the floating offshore wind sector, we plan to be involved in construction and this is a very similar skillset to that which we already offer in terms of engineering and construction. Whilst there are some differences in maintenance requirements in the wind industry, we are members of the ECITB (Engineering Construction Industry Training Board), which helps us to stay abreast of the necessary competencies as we transfer our skills from oil and gas,” says Renaud.

“We are targeting offshore wind projects, bringing Ponticelli Freres Group experience in offshore wind farm pilot schemes to the UK. We will draw on the knowledge gained from these pilots in a bid to support the ScotWind and INTOG projects. There is also the potential to electrify oil and gas utilising offshore wind, and we are in conversation with several parties about developing hydrogen infrastructure.”

These are part of Ponticelli Freres Group’s global strategy to ensure the relevance of the business in emerging industry sectors, adapting as the company has done, through its more than one century of successful operation.

“Our strategy will continue to shift in line with changing environmental priorities,” confirms Renaud. “We are already preparing for these developments, putting our people first by ensuring they are Connected Competence compliant. Connected Competence commands a base level of technical competence assurance and aims to recognise skills transfer which will support a resilient, transferable workforce and aid the energy transition.”

LONG-TERM VISION

According to some reports, North Sea oil and gas production might only have 10-15 years left before pressure from climate targets and environmental activism becomes too much. But even after this point, engineering and maintenance will be ongoing, and subsequent decommissioning will open up a new market for Ponticelli UK (with experts suggesting 600 installations will be decommissioned in the North Sea over the next four decades). There is also the reengineering process – turning platforms into carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) stations – where the company’s vast skillset will prove invaluable.

“Repurposing assets is a new concept within the industry. We are seeing this in the Netherlands and Denmark, using old platforms to inject carbon into disused wells and we expect to see more of this in the UK.

“We remain positive and expect growth in both oil and gas and renewables within the UK market,” states Renaud.

The family ownership of the business allows for longer-term thinking and means the business can look beyond profits for the next quarter. Ponticelli Freres Group is an evolving brand and continuing their move into the renewable energy space is only logical over the coming decades.   

“Our vision is much more long-term,” Renaud highlights. “In 2021, we celebrated our 100-year anniversary. The family of the founders that sit on the Board today talk about wanting their grandchildren to be involved in the company in the future, not about wanting a certain profit forecast for the end of Q1. Of course, we have financial targets to be sustainable, but we hold a longer-view on strategy compared to a shareholder-driven organisation.

“We are committed to being around 100 years from now,” he reinforces. “The long-term strategy – already underway – will see continued global investments to support change in the world.”

STRONG, SAFE FOUNDATIONS

Like most organisations active on the UKCS, and in the industries served by Ponticelli UK, sustainability is only outweighed as a long-term goal by safety. At Group level, Ponticelli is proud of its safety record and has created a culture where safe operations are non-negotiable and ‘zero harm’ is the focus of all daily operations.

“Safety, People, Wisdom, Performance, and Integrity are long-standing principles of the company, still held today. These are the foundations upon which our success is built,” says Renaud.

“Safety is good business,” he emphasises. “Safety is an integral part of the Group’s DNA and Ponticelli UK is committed in the pursuit of a zero-accident working environment to ensure that our workforce thinks safe, works safe, and stays safe. Our dynamic safety culture lends itself to operational excellence and the retention of our talented workforce.”

Their focus on safe working conditions was swiftly and dramatically tested following the onset of Covid-19, just three months after the company was established in Aberdeen. Renaud was forced to adjust quickly and manage his new team in a completely new way. Digital meetings and communication, and effective protection of people on and offshore was quickly delivered thanks to the company’s already robust safety policies.

“We support energy transition and also recognise the prevailing need for oil and gas for years to come. We still need gas to heat homes and fuel to drive cars until there is a complete change, and we’re not there yet. We will not stop working in oil and gas and focus only on renewables. Of course, we want to be efficient and sustainable, but for as long as there is production on the UKCS we are here to support our customers,” says Renaud.

Even with the long-term changing nature of the UKCS and the constant review of North Sea strategy, there will be construction, engineering, and maintenance projects, and the UK’s onshore facilities will require overhaul, renovation, and preservation. Here, Ponticelli has always been one of the best. Renaud is confident that Ponticelli’s plans will safeguard a sustainable long-term future for its employees, clients and partners.

“There are of course difficulties, but we are looking forward with positivity. We are investing in business development, and we believe in the market,” he concludes.