Unlocking Resident Underwater Inspection Drones or AUV for Subsea Autonomous Inspection: Value Creation between Technical Requirements and Technological Development

Abstract

Abstract Post-pandemic fossil fuels volatility, the increasing penetration of renewable energy resources into the energy supply mix, the onset of electrification, digitalization, regulation and commitment towards decarbonization targets as well as the prioritization for environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is leading offshore operators to tackle the Energy Transition era with new disruptive technologies. The global offshore inspection, repair, and maintenance market size was more than USD 7 billion in 2018 and projected to double in the next 5 years. Almost the total of this market segmentation is operated by conventional offshore support vessels services (typically MSV, PSV operating ROVs) which are mainly fossil fueled, and the remaining, which is only a small portion, is serviced by advanced technologies like USV and AUV. TotalEnergies has launched a R&D initiative aimed to support the Energy Transition trend, looking at higher degree of automation of subsea inspection services and to explore the value proposition of new disruptive technologies like Resident SubseaDrones for inspection which are anticipated to dominate the next decades. A dedicated study was conducted by Saipem to quantify the value creation via a structured and robust approach, and to highlight the technology needs and gap analysis for future advancement by leveraging on the knowledge of the most advanced subsea robotics systems and field operation procedures. Within the study, six different cases, distinguished by their status of advancement (from Brown to Green Fields) and by the level of penetration of subsea drones in the architecture, have been analyzed. An engineering process, based on the principles of ISO15663 (i.e. Scoping, Data Collection, Modelling and Reporting/Decisions) was conducted in a pragmatic approach covering the full life cycle costing to steer the conceptual engineering choices that could maximize the value proposition. The study identified the main technological and economic impacts coming from the adoption of such subsea drones on a current and future Subsea Field exploring the following pillars: i) CAPEX, ii) OPEX, iii) Return of Investment, and iv) CO2 Emissions. Key findings will be presented along with the metrics associated to the emerging vision of an innovative fleet of fully autonomous subsea drones based on the identification of the technical and operative gaps (in terms of missing or immature features). A deployment roadmap will be followed to target the Energy Transition challenges.