The world's first offshore gas field powered entirely by renewable energy has started up in the UK North Sea, project owners Shell and ExxonMobil said on Wednesday.
The Cutter project in the southern North Sea uses a platform powered by wind and solar energy that produce zero carbon dioxide emissions, the firms said in a statement.
Cutter cost $142.9 million to develop.
"This development is a real example of innovative thinking, transferring the latest generation of renewable technology into the existing oil and gas industry," Britain's Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said in the statement.
Cutter's launch comes as Britain's battles to get back on track to meet its own targets on curbing CO2 emissions which have been rising recently. Britain is on course to meets its Kyoto Protocol targets.
The Cutter field will produce up to three million cubic metres of gas a day -- roughly one percent of daily UK demand -- for at least 15 years.
Shell said the unmanned platform, which rests on a single leg, was cheaper to build than conventional platforms and allows access to small pockets of gas that otherwise would be uneconomical to exploit.
Shell owns 51.3 percent of the project, with ExxonMobil holding the balance.
