Visit the National Decommissioning Centre at stand 9 at OEUK’s Offshore Decommissioning Conference at the Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews (23 – 25 November 2026) to find out about our research and development.

Underwater laser cutting project

The NDC and Claxton Engineering have developed an underwater laser cutting solution which offers a revolutionary alternative to conventional methods. The technology brings to the market a low-carbon, quick and clean technology which has many benefits when compared with conventional cutting methods including reducing the time and cost to perform decommissioning activities.

Marine simulation

Find out about the NDC’s marine simulator which provides a virtual environment for scenario planning and design optimisation allowing companies to test new offshore technologies and improve decommissioning strategies in real-time across a variety of environmental conditions. Talk to the team about recent projects which are using the centre’s advanced marine modelling and simulation capabilities. The centre collaborates with technology developers, ports and the wider energy sector to support the de-risking of technologies and optimisation of operations prior to going offshore.

Visit the NDC’s team to see a demonstration of the marine simulator or have the opportunity to execute a simulated offshore operation yourself.

Panel session

Join NDC Director Professor Richard Neilson for a panel session on Wednesday (25 November) at 9.05am on ‘Co-locating all energy’. Further details will be announced soon.

Renewables Case Studies

The NDC supports renewable energy systems development with its marine modelling expertise and simulator facilities. These resources provide a safe, virtual and repeatable environment for testing and derisking new technologies prior to deployment. This capability has been effectively utilised by the renewables sector including small to medium enterprises, micro-companies and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult in various projects.
Read the case studies

Delivering value for offshore renewables

Read an article in the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce November 24 business bulletin for an account of how the National Decommissioning Centre is delivering for the offshore renewables sector. The NDC's modelling expertise and simulation capabilities is the key to this delivery, enabling the virtual trialling/derisking of technologies, optimisation of operations and logistics and enhanced understanding of ecological impacts.
Read more

AIS-Driven vessel activity and emissions modelling for offshore decommissioning activities

New research from the NDC has developed a high-resolution framework for quantifying vessel emissions associated with offshore decommissioning activities in the North Sea using AIS data. The study reveals how emissions are concentrated around offshore infrastructure and influenced by vessel operational behaviour, providing valuable insights for emissions accounting, regulatory reporting and energy transition planning.
Read more

An Integrated North Sea

AGCC Business Bulletin September issue, feature on the role the NDC is playing in Data for Net Zero (D4NZ), a collaborative project to develop a Smart Energy Basin for the UKCS.
Download

NDC features in Offshore Wind Innovation Guide

A report summarising Scotland’s offshore wind innovation landscape features the NDC. The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) innovation guide highlights funding programs as well as research and testing facilities. Read more on pages 29 and 41 of the report.
Download

Project Partnership with ORE Catapult

The NDC is delivering a Project Partnership with ORE Catapult through 3 co-funded PhD projects focused on Simulation of Floating Offshore Wind Marine Operations, the Environmental Impact of Floating Offshore Wind and the Multi-objective Optimisation of Floating Offshore Wind Mooring/Anchor Systems.
More information