Page 47: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Mar/Apr 2024)

46 48

The fuel savings gained by installing energy storage systems on oil and gas platforms are significant, but it’s the safety benefits that might overcome what has been a relatively slow uptake of late.

By Wendy Laursen ndustry lore has it that drilling rigs say hello to each other using the gensets onboard to make smoke signals.

The reality is that the engineers are often just running the generators at low load to ensure they have spinning reserve. The soot released is a byproduct of that sub-

I optimal load and the need to maximize energy security.

Energy security is paramount offshore, so sub-optimal energy production can be maintained for days or weeks, for example in adverse weather conditions, due to the long time needed to stop and restart generators.

In 2019, Woodside claimed a frst when it installed a 1MW battery ESS on the Goodwyn A production platform to provide spinning reserve so that three gas turbine genera- tors can run optimally rather than four sub-optimally.

The same year, Siemens Energy claimed a frst for the in- stallation of its BlueVault ESS on the West Mira semi-sub

NOV powerblade drilling rig. Here it is used for peak shaving during topside

Corvus dolphin operations as well as spinning reserve in DP operations, lightweight ESS scaled. nearly halving the run time of the platform’s diesel engines.

Siemens Energy’s subsequent installations include the jack-

Image courtesy Corvus ups Maersk Intrepid and Maersk Integrator.

Between 2019 and 2022, Corvus Energy delivered energy storage for NOV PowerBlade installations on four Odfjell

Drilling semi-subs: Deepsea Aberdeen, Deepsea Atlantic,

Deepsea Stavanger and Deepsea Nordkapp. The system cap- tures electrical braking energy from drilling or hoisting sys- tems and provides it to the power grid to enable peak shaving.

One of the world's most advanced offshore construc- tion vessels, the North Sea Giant, was the frst vessel where batteries (from Corvus Energy) were part of a DP3 power management system.

Corvus Energy SVP sales, Efraim Kanestrom, notes some cooling off on retroft projects over the last couple of years

Corvus Energy has due to rising oil prices and the greater geopolitical need for delivered energy storage energy security. It’s a temporary lull that he believes could be for NOV PowerBlade overcome soon even if the focus on emission reduction and installations on four energy effciency is temporarily reduced in the industry. The

Odfell Drilling semi-subs. operators still need to focus on the safety of crew and assets.

Image courtesy Corvus

MARCH/APRIL 2024 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 47