Page 49: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Mar/Apr 2024)

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Image courtesy Siemens Energy

Image courtesy NTNU

Image courtesy NTNU

Ofshore oil and gas platforms

ESS can play a major role in

Demand is growing may represent the next frontier.

upstream decarbonization signifcantly.

and increase the penetration – Professor Elisabetta Tedeschi – George Bitar, of renewable energy.

Norwegian University of Science

Siemens Energy Business and Technology (NTNU) and – Ayotunde A. Adeyemo

Development Manager for

University of Trento

Ofshore Solutions signifcantly for the system offshore for both newbuild- safety advantage that it is thermally stable, so there is no ings and retroft, partly as a result of the reduction in opex risk of thermal runaway. that BlueVault offers through its advanced digital battery A second case study indicated LFP and lithium nickel monitoring system. manganese cobalt (NMC) were jointly most suited for

Battery manufacturer Echandia has entered the market providing spinning reserve on another platform. too, with a 2023 order for an ESS for a jack-up drilling rig In both cases, safety was an important consideration, in the Middle East. along with factors such as high volumetric density, low

Professor Elisabetta Tedeschi of the Norwegian Univer- maintenance and solid operating experience.

sity of Science and Technology (NTNU) and University Using offshore renewable power offers an alternative of Trento says that while uptake has been limited to date, way of reducing emissions on production platforms, but lithium ion batteries have only recently experienced wide this is unlikely to eliminate the need for ESS. Tedeschi’s adoption in several other sectors due to a relatively steep team have evaluated the lifecycle costs of using ESS for cost decrease. As an example, according to the Internation- primary frequency control to ensure the intermittency of al Energy Agency, the global installed capacity of grid-scale wind power generation does not result in sudden critical battery ESS was 28GW as of 2022, of which 11GW was frequency fuctuations. added in 2022 alone. Offshore oil and gas platforms may Lithium-ion capacitor technology from Beyonder in represent the next frontier. Norway was regarded as a promising technology. This

Tedeschi and her team have developed a versatile sev- combination of battery cell and supercapacitor is very safe, en-step technology suitability assessment for the installa- with reduced risk of thermal runaway when compared to tion of ESS on offshore platforms. Testing the assessment lithium ion battery chemistries. However, the technology methodology on the operating profle of one North Sea is not yet mature, so it is yet to see large-scale adoption. platform, the required ESS capabilities were calculated That is expected to change in the future, and Tedeschi based on the need to provide maximum power for six co-researcher Ayotunde A. Adeyemo says ESS can play a hours to reduce the 77MW load peak by 5%. The results major role in upstream decarbonization and increase the indicated that lithium iron phosphate (LFP) was the most penetration of renewable energy.

suitable battery chemistry for peak shaving. LFP has the “Smoke signaling” could soon be a thing of the past.

MARCH/APRIL 2024 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 49