One central, reliable and secure database for subsea infrastructure
With the DigiShape seed money project KLIC at Sea, Periplus and Rijkswaterstaat are working on a first step towards a single, central, reliable and secure database for subsea infrastructure. Such a shared basis is becoming increasingly important as the North Sea becomes more crowded and dependence on critical cables and pipelines grows. Initiator Bart van Mierlo of Periplus talks about the importance of reliable infrastructure data, the risks of fragmented sources and the steps needed to achieve a single shared basis for the North Sea.
“The actual positions of cables and pipelines in the North Sea often deviate from what is shown in the charts,” says Bart. “Everyone assumes that the data is correct, but that is not always the case.” During desk investigations, it regularly turns out that this infrastructure is slightly different from what is registered. “It’s not about kilometers, but even a small deviation can have major consequences. For example, a contractor cannot lay a pipeline under a pipeline and then has to cross it. That costs time and money and entails risks.”
A full bottom requires a complete overview
This involves a wide range of assets such as electricity cables from wind farms to land, international interconnectors, telecom cables, gas pipelines, but also old, abandoned cables whose status is not always clear. Towards the coast, the density increases and with it the chance of problems. “To be able to build safely, you have to know exactly what is there and what condition it is in. Without that overview, every procedure becomes unnecessarily complex.”
Why accuracy is becoming increasingly important
Space in the North Sea is becoming scarcer. A deviation of a few meters can make the difference between a feasible project or a costly revision. Increasingly detailed information is therefore needed for the granting of permits. “You have to be able to demonstrate that you can work safely,” says Bart. “That is not possible without reliable data.”
The strategic value of undersea infrastructure is also growing due to geopolitical developments. Cables and pipelines are essential for energy security and communication. Governments want to know exactly where vulnerable parts are located. To achieve this accuracy, advanced survey techniques such as side-scan sonar, echosounders, magnetometers and seismic are used. With this, parties map out the soil and existing infrastructure in detail.
But the biggest problem is not the lack of data, according to Bart. “There is actually already a lot of data, it is just fragmented and scattered stored at different agencies or owners. As a result, parties sometimes go out to sea again to check deviations when the information is actually already available.” A central data source can prevent unnecessary surveys and reduce costs and risks. “There is a lot of data, but not in one central place.”
Fragmentation and lack of standardization
The current fragmentation leads to uncertainty and misunderstandings. Governments, cable and pipeline owners, contractors and international parties all use their own datasets with different definitions and quality levels. Bart therefore sees standardization as a prerequisite for moving forward.
“Every party must be able to find what it needs in the same database. That will only work if we agree on one shared standard.” According to him, this requires one central source that is used by all services. “If we arrange that properly, existing databases can eventually be phased out. Otherwise, the confusion will remain. You work towards one single point of truth.”
Such a central database would help initiators to make better permit applications, give managers more control over spatial planning and increase the protection of the North Sea infrastructure. The urgency increases as the North Sea is used more intensively and the dependence on this infrastructure grows.
Who will be the owner of that central database?
According to Bart, the ownership of the central database is the most important issue. The responsibilities run across several parties. Governments and contractors manage and lay cables and pipelines, and organisations such as TNO and TenneT have a clear interest. “TenneT makes intensive use of this infrastructure and TNO can explain to policymakers why this database is necessary.”
As manager of the North Sea, he says, Rijkswaterstaat is the obvious manager of the central database, but because so many parties are involved, he also sees a role for IDON, the Interdepartmental Directors Consultation North Sea. “That is a place where it can be determined across departments where ownership belongs.”
The budget will ultimately have to come from the government. “We need someone who says: we take ownership. Only then can we move on.”
What does the seed money phase yield?
The seed money is used for a blueprint of about ten pages. This contains an inventory of data sources, an assessment of their reliability, a proposal for standardisation, advice on ownership and a timeline for next steps. “We want to present a convincing plan,” says Bart. “What do we have, where do we want to go and why is that crucial?”
Periplus is carrying out the substantive analysis in collaboration with Rijkswaterstaat. Parties such as Deltares and Informatiehuis Marien have also indicated their interest from the DigiShape network. “I am positively surprised by the traction this idea is getting,” says Bart. “New partners are joining and we are joining programs that we would not have found quickly as an individual party.”
When is the seed money well spent?
For Bart, acknowledging the problem by the government is the most important step. He sees that parties are now spending a lot of money on additional surveys because existing data is incorrect. “That can really be done differently. But first it must be recognized that this problem exists.”
Call to the network
KLIC at Sea is open to parties who want to contribute ideas about standardisation, data requirements or governance. Organisations that have data, need data or want to contribute to a shared database for the North Sea are invited to join.
