Building collaborative capacity to address Australia’s growing decommissioning needs

Abstract

Australia and indeed the Asia-Pacific region is facing a significant decommissioning workload. Recent work by the Centre of Decommissioning Australia (CODA) puts Australia’s potential offshore decommissioning cost at around US$40 billion and Wood Mackenzie predicting the region’s decommissioning to be in excess of US$100 billion. CODA was established in 2021 to support the coordinated effort required across the entire Australian value chain to address this immense domestic workload safely and effectively. Building on the release of the 2021 liability report, CODA, in conjunction with a number of operators, has undertaken three additional studies, looking at: planning and execution global best practice applicable to Australian operations; a decommissioning technology roadmap, and; a recycling and disposal pathways report. Supported by these studies to understand the current state and needs of the Australian decommissioning industry, CODA’s primary focus is to build domestic capacity and capability. To this end CODA is working with operators, the service and supply sector, state and federal government, regulators and researchers to establish a collaborative network that can enhance the visibility of upcoming work, surface and support the growth of domestic capability and share best practice in decommissioning. This paper highlights findings from the new reports and shares insights into CODA’s ongoing work to build an inclusive Australian decommissioning community of practice ready to undertake the next decades of activity.