Offshore electrification: Turning challenge into opportunity

上周, I was delighted to present at Offshore Energies UK’s Electrification in the Making conference in 阿伯丁. 资产运营商, 服务提供商, regulators and industry experts gathered to discuss both the incredible potential and the tough challenges facing offshore platform electrification in the UK North Sea – a critical pathway towards industrial decarbonisation and delivery of the basin’s net-zero promise.  Keeping these assets viable and powered from external sources will be a key enabler to future repurposing for green energy as well as CO₂ injection into reservoirs for long term carbon sequestration.

Securing reliable domestic energy supply with as little carbon impact as possible is the offshore energy sector’s most critical imperative.

的 北海过渡协议, 出版于2021年, will see the UK's upstream oil and gas industry cut greenhouse gas emissions in significant increments between 现在 and 2050, when it will be a net-zero carbon emission basin.

That cannot be achieved by just tapering off production.

最终, society will still depend on conventional energy for decades to come, and this needs to be produced as sustainably as possible, and that’s where platform electrification comes in – it has the potential to radically reduce the carbon impact of the offshore energy sector, 在速度.

Modifying existing offshore assets to connect them to renewable energy supply is no mean feat as it requires the deepest technical k现在ledge, the richest asset infrastructure understanding, and the pioneering and collaborative mindset that makes all the world’s biggest innovations possible.

During my presentation I reflected on the parallels we can draw between major, complex brownfield modifications projects – the conventional kind – and the complex projects that can enable electrification, except that I posed that the latter must be approached differently, given the varying levels of success in the industry we have observed historically.

Unlike in the case of planning for a tie-back to an existing asset, where the prized commodity is locked safely in the ground until the project is completed even when projects are recycled and delayed, projects to electrify assets are made viable, 或不, by the remaining lifespan of those assets and the potential to make a return on the investment.

与电气化, we potentially introduce not only more stakeholders with their own criteria and drivers, but also the fact that any value from the project is intrinsically linked to what are effectively depreciating assets with a Cessation of Production date which may move, 但最终会发生.

Unlike many of our traditional production enhancement projects, electrification needs collective agreement from multiple independent stakeholders but also delivers less value – by any measure – the longer we delay.

我们承担不起出错的后果. 的 project scope, basis and economic appraisals needs to be correct, first time.

We need to spend the right amount of time at the front end determining what the right solution is. We need to tackle enough of the variables in the early concept phase to move to the subsequent phases of development with the assurances that this makes sense.

的 truth is that there will be no silver bullet “template” solution to brownfield electrification, and each asset will need to be carefully assessed on its own merits. That does not need to mean that it is unobtainable – it just means approaching it with the right mindset.

以解决方案为重点的简要说明, a consistent thread of collaboration from concept to delivery, and with solutions grounded in the real world – this can be possible.

Indeed, I believe that we do not have another option. We need oil and gas, but we cannot afford to continue to produce it with today’s carbon intensity.

这真的能实现吗? 是的，我相信绝对可以.  We are systematically working the problem out 现在. 的re is uncertainty in the sector around the regulatory framework and future taxation and financing landscape for the industry, 但作为一个领先的服务承包商, 我们有专业知识, the experience and the capability to do our part in this journey and, 坦率地说, a larger and more leading role than perhaps we are used to doing in the past.

If you have any questions or would like to k现在 more about platform electrification and how we can help you, 请随时与我们联系.