The Netherlands Smart production
Wintershall Dea operates 12 actively producing gas platforms on the Dutch Continental Shelf. All platforms are controlled remotely from the Central Control Room in Den Helder. This enables the company to increase its operational efficiency and effectiveness, and to produce economically even from the smaller fields in the Southern North Sea.
Natural gas provides more than half the electricity used in the Netherlands.
Wintershall Dea has been active in the Dutch North Sea for more than 50 years. The company is today as a shareholder of Wintershall Noordzee, one of the larger producers of natural gas in the region. The portfolio includes the recently developed and operated Sillimanite and Sillimanite South natural gas fields Sillimanite, which reuses the topside from the retired Dutch E18-A platform, operates from three wells that came on stream between February 2020 and January 2021.
In addition to natural gas, Wintershall Noordzee has the intention to start producing oil from one of the largest oil discoveries in the Southern North Sea of recent years. The Rembrandt oil field was discovered in 2012 and is supplemented by the neighbouring Vermeer oil field. Both fields are located some 120 kilometres north of Den Helder within production licence F17a. Development plans were put on hold amongst others due to delays in the environmental permitting process but have recently been resumed.
Wintershall Dea envisages its operations in the Netherlands to become a prototype for implementing CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) projects and managing the energy transition in the future. The depleted fields held by our subsidiary Wintershall Noordzee have significant CO2 storage potential and are located in proximity to CO2 producers onshore. The project realisation is supported by the regulatory regime of the Netherlands, one of the most progressive in Europe.
Where we operate in the Netherlands
All of Wintershall Noordzee’s Dutch gas production platforms are unmanned and monitored automatically from the mainland. To enable that, the company runs the centre for Remote Controlled Operations (RCO) in Den Helder. That also makes production from small fields cost-effective. The gas fields Sillimanite and Sillimanite South straddle the maritime border of the Netherlands and the UK. The Rembrandt oil discovery is located approximately 120 kilometres north of Den Helder in the exploration concession F17a. It is complemented by the neighbouring Vermeer oil field.
1,200
km of Dutch offshore gas pipelines are operated by Wintershall Noordzee.
1.2
million cubic metres of gas per day can be processed at the Ijmuiden Q8 terminal.
100 T
is the weight of the upper part of the mini platform L6-B; the substructure weighs 1,100T.
8
fully decommissioned platforms have been reused at new locations in the Dutch north sea.
An aerial view of the L6-B mini platform.
L6-B – Tiny platform, big possibilities
L6-B is Wintershall Noordzee’s first mini platform and has been producing natural gas in the Dutch North Sea since 2015. It is operated, controlled, and supplied with power from a larger neighbouring platform. Wintershall Noordzee is the first company that has been allowed to produce here – the unmanned platform is situated in a restricted military area. That is why it was built to be extremely small and light. The strength of the new generation of mini platforms is that they can be used in very shallow waters.
