Moderated by: Bjørn Kahrs, Norwegian Energy Partners and Jon Arve Sværen, OneSubsea

15:10 - 15:30

Offshore Wind to Green Hydrogen Pathways - Comparison of UK, US and Japan
Sarah Gill - xodus 

The UK, US and Japan face similar challenges and opportunities when it comes to decarbonising their energy sectors. The three countries are blessed with abundant offshore wind resource, their economies are built around energy-intensive industries and their onshore electricity networks are ageing. Coupling offshore wind with green hydrogen production, especially in areas with constrained grid infrastructure, could be the missing piece of the decarbonisation puzzle. The most important cost element of green hydrogen production is the cost of the electricity feedstock itself, in this case the levelised cost of offshore wind power generation. Xodus developed a bottom-up techno-economic tool built around geospatial parameters to calculate the cost of hydrogen production from offshore wind. The tool includes three different layouts: onshore, centralised offshore and decentralised offshore hydrogen production as well as different onshore tie-in points and pipeline selection module for the offshore layouts. The outputs from the tool can then be used to compare costs across different regions and geographies. Apart from the cost of hydrogen production and delivery, it is also important to assess the potential demand sectors and the policy landscape to understand the full picture. Therefore, the presentation will not only elaborate on the cost of hydrogen production outputs but also on the demand and policy aspects within each country, and how these are aligned with their offshore wind project development pipelines and net zero targets.

15:30 - 15:50

Satellite tie-back solutions with reduced CO2 emissions and a smaller environmental footprint
Wolfgang Mathis - Neodrill, Vidar Strand - Baker Hughes 

Conventional subsea single production well design requires the well to be drilled and completed with the drilling rig (vessel) before flow lines pull-in, connection of umbilical’s, etc. are undertaken with other specialized vessels. This causes not only time delay between well drilling/completion and production start-up, but also adding for way more CO2 emissions. By pre-rig installing a single well foundation with integrated conductor, manifold, pipeline and umbilical tie-in points, this additional CO2 emission and costly time delay can be reduced, and essentially facilitate instant production. 

A CAN technology is the structural foundation for this well construction. Smaller marine vessels can be used for installation and recovery. Therefore, instead of drilling a 36’’ (42’’) hole, running the conductor and carrying out cementing operations, a vessel is used to install the CAN-integrator ahead of the rig arrival. All this allow for considerable reductions in CO2 emissions due to reduced drilling/use of rig, less steel and no cement used. On top of this, no drill cuttings are spilled to seafloor during installation, and no chemicals used in form of mud nor cement. 

With a seamless integration of lighter satellite SPS equipment further total reductions in CO2 emissions will be obtained totaling to a reduction of up to 60% in weight and CO2 reductions compared to standard template solutions. 

In summary these advantages result in increased efficiency, shorter project execution time, faster time to first oil, reduced operational risk and lower cost ultimately lowering the CO2 footprint up to 60% of any field development.

15:50 - 16:10

Subsea Gas dewpointing: a solution to improve production of subsea gas fields
Riccardo Giolo - SAIPEM 

For long gas subsea tie-back applications, removing liquids and condensable components from gas prior to its export allows to extend field lifetime and improve operability of export line(s).

Indeed, for subsea gas fields located far from shore and/or at high water depths, the main reasons of premature stop of production are the lack of available pressure and the operability issues due to liquid accumulation. By removing liquid and components that can condensate in the export line(s) prior to the export, the gas production is improved (reduction of pressure drops, no risk of hydrate or wax formation, no liquid accumulation).

For this purpose, SAIPEM has developed a subsea station performing gas dewpointing to remove as much as possible liquids and condensables from the production gas coming from wells. The gas coming out of the station is exported alone in the export line(s) while the liquids and condensable components are exported to shore via a dedicated line.

This station is mainly based on mature and very low power consuming components. The station can be implemented on greenfield cases to simplify the pipeline architecture in suitable cases (reduction of export lines number, easier operability, etc…) or advantageously in brownfield configurations to extend field life (by reducing the pressure drops and liquid accumulation issue). This paper presents several case studies showing how the solution can improve production in case of brownfields applications. This solution could be one of the keys to maximize gas fields production in the future.

16:10 - 16:30

Nyhamna and Ormen Lange: the world's first fully integrated reservoir to market Digital Twin
Arnela Kljucanin and Mariann Forsberg - AS Norske Shell 

Norske Shell is a frontrunner in developing and utilizing Digital Twin technology. Since 2019 we have deployed a full reservoir-to-market Digital twin, which encompasses the Nyhamna Onshore gas plant and our the Ormen Lange subsea asset. The Digital Twin project is being used as a best practice example across Shell. The development of the Ormen Lange twin was completed in just 90 days.

A Digital Twin is a virtual representation of the physical elements and dynamic behavior of an asset over its life cycle. They can be of the whole asset (e.g. drilling platforms, wind turbines) but also at the equipment level (e.g. valves). They are built combining data from various sources (Asset operations, maintenance, engineering, real time data series etc.) into visualization and models.

Digital Twins mirror the characteristics and performance of their real-life counterparts providing opportunities for asset owners and operators to optimize performance and extend asset lifetime. For example, an operator might apply “what if” scenarios to the Digital Twin to see how certain conditions, events or fatigue factors might affect the real thing in the digital copy and prevent potential failures.

For Ormen Lange and its partners the twin offers an array of benefits. Disciplines like Subsea Maintenance, Process Engineering, Wells, Flow Assurance, Production Technology Reservoir Engineering and Operations are all collaborating on creating value from the digital Twin. The presentation will seek to show the value of twins exemplified by its use in the operation of the Nyhamna plant an Ormen Lange subsea asset.