Orkney wave project sparks O&G interest
Energy firms from Europe and Asia travelled to Orkney last week to see how wave energy coupled with energy storage can deliver green power to subsea equipment.
Company representatives from businesses including Bridge Petroleum, PTTEP, Harbour Energy, Serica Energy and Baker Hughes travelled to the islands to see first-hand the £2million demonstrator project, called Renewables for Subsea Power (RSP), which has connected a Blue X wave energy converter – built by Edinburgh company Mocean Energy – with a Halo underwater battery system developed by Aberdeen intelligent energy management specialists Verlume.
The two technologies were deployed in the seas off Orkney earlier this year and are now nearing the end of a four-month test programme where they have delivered low carbon power and communication to infrastructure including Baker Hughes’ subsea controls equipment and a resident underwater autonomous vehicle (AUV) provided by Transmark Subsea.
The project aims to show how green technologies can be combined to provide reliable low-carbon power and communications to subsea equipment, offering a cost-effective alternative to umbilical cables, which are carbon-intensive with long lead times to procure and install.
“The day went really well,” states Mocean Energy managing director Cameron McNatt.
“There is growing interest in the oil and gas sector in routes to decarbonisation and the day was an opportunity to showcase our technologies to potential customers alongside our existing project partners, and to share our exciting growth plans.
“We plan to launch our first commercial product – the 20kW Blue Star – in 2025 and are now seeking early adopters worldwide.
“We hope the day demonstrated the capabilities of these combined technologies and their capacity to decarbonise oil and gas operations in the near term.”
Andy Martin, chief commercial officer at Verlume added:
“Renewables for Subsea Power is a world-leading project which is crucial to enabling the future of subsea electrification in offshore operations.
“It was great to welcome representatives from across the sector to discuss the magnitude of the project and to showcase in-person the activities that are taking place in Orkney.
“Verlume’s Halo plays a key role here by providing a reliable, uninterrupted source of power to overcome the intermittency of renewable energy to deliver energy security and ultimately facilitate the integration of green energy into subsea projects of the future. The successful testing of the resident AUV and docking unit will also pave the way for decarbonising inspection routines.”
Nigel Money, managing director Transmark Subsea said:
“The Mocean industry day was a great opportunity for Transmark Subsea to demonstrate our autonomous underwater vehicle’s (ARV-i) capability in open sea with stronger currents, reduced visibility and greater depths.
“The company representatives were able to try flying the tethered version of the ARV-i as well as seeing the video captured during our recent testing where 50 successful autonomous docking and un-docking manoeuvres were carried out on the Transmark dock mounted to Verlume’s Halo. It was great to see the enthusiasm there is for the project from industry.
“The project demonstrates how renewable power generation and energy storage can be used to provide power to subsea infrastructure and facilitates resident autonomous vehicles at any place in the open sea. It was also great that our development partner, Boxfish Research New Zealand, was able to join as well.”
The Orkney deployment is the third phase of the Renewables for Subsea Power project which is being supported by consortium partners which include UK-based energy companies Harbour Energy and Serica Energy alongside Mocean Energy, Verlume, Transmark Subsea and Baker Hughes. Each phase of the programme has also been supported by grant funding from the Net Zero Technology Centre.
The current test programme will raise the system’s technology readiness level (TRL) to 7 (actual system completed and qualified via test and demonstration).
In 2021, Mocean Energy’s Blue X prototype underwent a programme of rigorous at-sea testing at the European Marine Energy Centre’s Scapa Flow test site in Orkney where they generated first power and gathered significant data on machine performance and operation. The Blue X programme was made possible through £3.3 million from Wave Energy Scotland which supported the development, construction and testing of the Blue X prototype at sea.
For press queries, please contact:
Neil Davidson
PR Consultant to Mocean Energy
+44 (0) 7545 735402
