MEMBER NEWS: Aberdeen’s OPEX Group acquired by environmental consultancy ERM

December 17, 2021
MEMBER NEWS: Aberdeen’s OPEX Group acquired by environmental consultancy ERM

Courtesy of Energy Voice.

Aberdeen-headquartered Operational Excellence Group (OPEX) has been taken over by sustainability consultancy ERM.

Commercial details of the transaction have not been disclosed, but ERM said OPEX Group’s team of 40 employees will join its digital and climate change business experts and “scale their capabilities across the globe”.

OPEX Group, a data science and predictive analysis firm, uses its flagship emissions.AI software helps North Sea oil and gas platforms to slash emissions through operational decisions and real-time monitoring.

The company was started in 2010, but was effectively “reborn” in 2015 with the launch of its X-Pas data science and maintenance service being launched.

Chief executive Jamie Bennett said: “We have a six year track record of applying AI solutions to complex assets, and becoming part of ERM will help us to further extend our reach and capabilities.

“We will benefit from ERM’s global scale, network and expertise in sustainability, and look forward to working together to help customers address the biggest challenges they are facing today, and in particular the challenge of decarbonising operations.”

London-headquartered ERM bills itself as the “world’s largest pure play sustainability advisory firm” with more than 5,500 employees in over 150 offices around the world.

The firm said the OPEX deal marks continued growth for its digital business, which now includes several products and platforms aimed at achieving data-driven transformations to fulfil ESG goals.

Interim CEO David McAthur said: “ERM is at the forefront of using digital technologies to help organizations reduce emissions and operationalise sustainability.

“As stakeholder expectations, regulation and emerging global carbon markets continue to evolve, we can expect strong competitive forces to align around them, requiring new capabilities.

“The addition of OPEX to the ERM Group enables us to scale AI-enabled emissions reduction solutions to our global client base, continuing to deliver our ‘boots to boardroom’ value proposition.”

ERM has recently made headlines in the north-east of Scotland with its proposed Dolphyn green hydrogen project planned off the coast of Aberdeen.

In August this year it was announced that Irish firm Simply Blue Energy and Subsea 7 will explore whether to incorporate the Dolphyn tech into their 200 megawatt Salamander wind farm, which is bidding for space off Peterhead in the ScotWind leasing round.

Read this story on the Energy Voice article here.

 

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