Industry collaborates to develop deepwater subsea power and control

ABB and Statoil, a Norwegian oil and gas company, have entered into a joint industry program to develop complete subsea oil- and gas-producing facilities.

The program will develop solutions for transmission, distribution and power-conversion systems designed to power and control subsea pumps and gas compressors at depths of 3000 m and over vast distances.

Statoil is leading the program on behalf of other participating oil companies, while ABB is responsible for developing the new technology. The partnership follows an extensive subsea power study executed by Statoil and ABB in 2012.

The total value of the agreement is $100 million, which will be jointly funded by all participating companies.

According to the companies, the five-year program is pivotal to the development of technologies required to power and control large-scale subsea pumping and gas-compression projects planned for the Norwegian continental shelf, the Gulf of Mexico and other places around the world. Subsea pumping and gas compression contribute to improved utilisation of oil and gas resources through greater recovery rates, reduced production costs and the further development of deepwater production.

The program will provide solutions for transmission of electrical power up to 100 MW over a distance of 600 km and to depths of up to 3000 m. This is important for the development of remote oil and gas fields located far from other infrastructure.

“The expanding oil and gas frontiers continue to provide ABB with rewarding opportunities,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, Head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “ABB has been a leading innovator of power conversion solutions to subsea installations for over 15 years. We are delighted that Statoil, a pioneering company in subsea technology, has decided to partner with us once again.”

This subsea electric power distribution technology enables several electric loads, such as pumps and compressors, to be supplied through a single power cable. This will reduce investment costs significantly compared to existing solutions using one cable for each individual load. The new technology, for example, will make savings of more than $500 million, if eight loads are linked through a single cable over a distance of 200 km from other infrastructure.

To ensure compact and reliable solutions, the equipment will be enclosed in liquid-filled pressure-compensated tanks, with components tested extensively under the full pressure they will experience at the target water depth. The program entails material and component qualification, detailed design and full-scale testing of a 36 kV distribution unit and two variable speed drives for pump and gas-compressor applications, respectively.