Decommissioning and reusing the gas and oil infrastructure in the Dutch sector of the North Sea continental shelf is a Herculean task which is vital to the country’s transition to green energy, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Thursday.

There are 150 platforms and 3,000 km of pipeline in the Dutch offshore sector which will have to be removed. In addition, 700 offshore wells will have to be capped. Costs are put at in excess of €5bn.

Removing oil and gas infrastructure on land is much cheaper, at only €2bn. Where possible, elements of the infrastructure will be used elsewhere.

The job is being carried out by Nexstep, a platform set up by EBN, the state organisation with a 40% stake in every Dutch oil and gas field, Nogepa which represents the producers, and the service industry.

Nexstep general manager Jacqueline Vaessen vows to have 50% of the infrastructure removed within 10 years. Decommissioning involves moving 250,000 tons of steel, the equivalent of 200,000 cars, back to land. But it is a legal requirement.