Pairing Offshore Wind with Existing Production Assets: Utilizing Generation Overcapacity to Decarbonize Compression Trains

Abstract

Abstract Combustion in gas turbines or diesel gensets typically represents one of the largest sources of carbon emissions on offshore production and drilling installations (second only to flaring). Significant potential exists to decarbonize these assets via electrification. Many regions of the world where large-scale wind developments are planned or currently being built are also centers for oil and gas production (e.g., North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, etc). It is logical to expect that in the coming years, opportunities will arise for operators to directly utilize the electricity generated by these wind farms to reduce their carbon footprint. This paper explores possibilities for supplementing conventional power generation on offshore production installations with clean electricity from offshore wind farms. It discusses the feasibility of powering large production assests in deepwater and smaller assets in shallow water. The paper focuses primarily on curtailement utilization (i.e., taking power from the wind farm during times of overproduction) and the inherent commercial capacity of such a scenario. Additionally, it addresses steps/measures operators will potentially have to take in relation to the inherent intermittency and unpredictability of wind generation. Electrical power continuity, stability, and magnitude are crucial to production, as well as meeting required process heat requirements on the topsides. Thus, the utilization of combined cycle for deepwater large assets is also discussed.