Energy Harvesting for Sustainable Long Tie-Back Development

Subsea tiebacks have become a major factor in the development of new oil and gas reserves. Oil companies are pushing forward the technology of subsea tiebacks to produce more oil and gas at lower cost, over longer distances and in deeper waters. However the umbilical exhibits a significant part of the development cost for such long tie-back as the umbilical price per meter increases with the step out. In addition power is usually required as boosting and/or heating are typically needed to produce over long distance which requires power cables to be incorporated in already challenging umbilical.

Subsea 7 have developed a technology portfolio to tackle the power challenges for long tie-back based on energy harvesting. This has been capitalised on our Seaway 7 – Renewable and Heavy Lifting business unit – experience in delivering EPCI renewable projects. The aim is to use surrounding energies that are available in typical offshore environments (waves, wind, current and solar energies) to produce electricity locally and remotely supply subsea consumers. This is not only a cost enabler for long tie-back as it simplifies the umbilical but also leads to a sustainable field development as it reduces fuel consumption (OPEX) and operator carbon footprint. This development is part of a wider initiative on long tie-back umbilical simplification as All Electric System can remove hydraulic tubes and Subsea Chemical Storage and Injection can remove chemical tubes.

Presented by Vincent Boulliat, Field Development Study Lead,

Subsea 7

Vincent is a project engineering manager for Subsea7. Graduated from a hydrodynamic and oceanographic French engineering school, he has 19 years’ experience in the Oil and Gas industry mainly in installation engineering and operation. He worked on various projects from West Africa large deepwater ones, such as Exxon Kizomba C and TOTAL Pazflor, to smaller North Sea ones. He is experienced with the installation of a large panel of products from flexible pipelines and umbilical to rigid pipelines. Vincent now works in the Subsea 7 Field Development Group, which performs field optimization studies for Operators, to support them in making their subsea developments viable and with maximized value.

Overview of the self-sustaining intelligent monitoring buoy

OPT will present an overview of the PowerBuoy® PB3 project currently deployed in the Central North Sea as a self-sustaining intelligent platform to provide communications and remote monitoring services. The initial phase of the OGTC and Premier Oil supported project will explore the PowerBuoy® capabilities and its ability to monitor the local environment and alert shipping of its position. The project represents the first time that a wave power device is being deployed on the UKCS on an oil and gas development. The system is providing monitoring to safeguard subsea safety zones and generating power with a view to operating subsea assets, meaning it fits well with the focus on reducing the cost of decommissioning and unlocking small pools while contributing to the “net carbon zero” aim of the industry.

This new system increases safety, efficiency and operational effectiveness while delivering a step change in decommissioning planning processes and the potential for future applications for intelligent, remotely controlled small field developments.

Presented by Paul Watson, Director UK & Europe Business Development – OPT Ltd

Paul Watson joined Ocean Power Technologies in August 2012 as Director of Business Development UK & Europe.

Paul has worked in technical and business development roles for a number of major companies in different market segments. Paul now uses this wide experience and knowledge to help companies transfer their innovative technology to new markets by creating alternative solutions to existing challenges.

Power System for Tether Back-up and Resident ROVs

Teledyne Energy Systems Incorporated (TESI) will present on the recent fielding of a fuel cell-based subsea power node. It is envisioned that this subsea power node will provide back-up power to subsea tethers, resident ROVs, and subsea sensor networks. To date, batteries have been the only option to provide this functionality. We will review the recent fielding of a TESI Subsea Power Node that was used to power a resident ROV through ship husbandry exercises. During the ship husbandry exercises, an ROV would traverse a dock and then inspect a simulated ship hull; the TESI Subsea Power Node delivered all the power required for operation. The Teledyne Subsea Power Node was able to be fueled dockside and performed a dockside deployment, recovery, and redeployment activity. This system is capable of delivering either 8 or 25 kW of electrical power per module. A Teledyne Subsea Power Node can also be hybridized with a battery to provide 100’s of kW. A subsea power node can provide subsea robotic vehicles, tasked with collecting oceanographic data, with persistent monitoring. The Teledyne Subsea Power Node will provide communications and data storage that could be retrieved by either buoy release or by direct communication with other underwater assets. The merits and applications of a subsea power node are in long-term back-up power and in reducing operator suffering in running subsea cables to new locations. This system may provide a solution to minimizing cable laying costs, permitting, and survey processes when preparing new locations for observation. In this presentation, we will discuss the lessons learned and challenges in deploying a fuel cell-based subsea power node.

Presentation by Dr Thomas Valdez , Manager, Chemical Engineering Group, Teledyne Energy Systems inc

Dr. Thomas I. Valdez is the Chemical Engineering Group Manager at Teledyne Energy Systems Incorporated, Hunt Valley Maryland. He manages the development of advanced chemical and electrochemical engineering systems. These projects include advanced electrolysis for the generation of hydrogen and oxygen, fuel cell technologies with a focus on powering air-independent applications, and battery systems for energy storage. His battery system focus is on advanced passive thermal management to enhance durability and address failure propagation mitigation in lithium-based batteries.

Thomas has over 28 years of experience in the area of advanced power systems for military, space, underwater, and commercial applications. His career began at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where he was a major contributor to the JPL Fuel Cell Group and Power Systems Section. Thomas has received various NASA New Technology Awards, has published several technical papers in scientific journals, and has co-authored three book chapters on fuel cell technology. He has several patents with regard to his work on fuel cells, electrochemical sensors, and energy harvesting systems.
His educational background starts with being a student of Mr. Jaime Escalante, whose teachings were the basis of the Hollywood movie Stand and Deliver. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Science degree in Materials Engineering from the University of California, Irvine. He completed his doctorate in Materials Science under Professor Florian Mansfeld, winner of the Electrochemical Society Vittorio de Nora Award, at the University of Southern California.

Registration 17:30, Start 18:00 Refreshments and Networking to follow

A Certificate of Attendance to contribute towards your CPD is available, please select this option during booking.

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