Top 10 Alternative Technologies for Offshore Power Generation: How Viable are they?

Abstract

This paper screens the existing and emerging alternative energy generation technologies that can be potentially used for offshore power and selects the top 10 for further discussion and analyses. The objective is to provide the industry a clear understanding of the status and future potential of these technologies. The technologies to be evaluated are divided into two categories - existing and emerging. For existing technologies, the evaluation is conducted from a holistic point of view and present conclusion based on key factors such as: cost, efficiency, safety and environmental impacts, reliability, deployment potential and production capacity. Whereas, emerging technologies are evaluated based on Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and potential. Based on the evaluation, the top 10 technologies are selected for further analysis, which range from renewable, nuclear and other alternative energies. The oil and gas industry is gradually moving towards deeper and more distant offshore developments. At the same time, the power requirement on these facilities is increasing rapidly. So far operators have used localized open cycle gas turbine or diesel generators to meet their demand, which produces high levels of CO2 and NOx. The cost, weight, and deck space requirement associated with power generation units have also increased significantly. The power generation requirement has been a critical element for floating structure design (payload) and offshore field development (cost). Driven by the global demands for climate change control, and greenhouse gas emission, the need to find more viable solutions for alternative energy is becoming inevitable. The offshore industry starts to re-visit the potential of powering offshore facility with alternative and renewable energies once were thought was impractical for offshore because of their unsustainability. These new technologies will transform the oil and gas industry and will power our way towards future developments where power requirement will be in the magnitude of 100s of MW. The technologies, which offer great potential but haven't been used in oil and gas industry are considered and evaluated. Small case studies are presented to highlight their practical applications and results.