Batteries for subsea use are common, with applications ranging from small sensors and instrumentation, through to fully autonomous robotic vehicles. The next big leap for subsea battery systems in oil and gas is electrification of hydrocarbon production facilities. EC-OG is ready to take on the challenge with our Halo Subsea Battery Storage system.
We firmly believe that all-electric is the future for subsea production. As the energy transition gathers pace, there’s an increasing demand for decarbonising offshore production operations and a real shift in focus by the industry towards cleaner operations.
To do this, we’re going to need a step change in thinking, to operate our systems in a different way and embrace the changes in behaviour and attitudes that are being driven by the energy transition and net-zero goals.
Halo is a modular and scalable lithium-ion battery storage system, developed specifically for the demanding subsea environment. Key to operability of the system is flexibility; EC-OG has developed the system with an eye to the future and the adoption of renewable energy by the offshore sector.
Major industry bodies such as OGUK and the OGTC are accelerating the discussion between technology developers and operators. With significant investment coming into the blue economy as a result of the recent Covid-19 pandemic, it’s becoming increasingly evident that renewable energy systems will soon become mainstream technology in the oil and gas sector.
EC-OG has already been engaging the market from a brownfield perspective. Our Halo battery system is the electrical interface to the subsea production control system, to replace or augment the existing umbilical power supply where failures or degradation has occurred.
Having a reliable energy source in-situ then gives the operator options to recharge using an alternative generation source such as wave, tidal or solar, or by the ‘fast charge’ method using a downline from a vessel or ROV.
The ultimate target for EC-OG is to utilise our expertise and technology in clean energy systems for new tiebacks and greenfield developments. Coupling our battery storage technology with renewable energy devices can offer a fully autonomous and clean energy system for subsea applications.
This can be for production operations, ideally as part of an all-electric development, but also for other applications such as CCS injection wells, in-situ recharging of resident subsea vehicles, or even sensor packages for floating offshore wind site monitoring.
There’s a huge commercial opportunity for offshore clean energy systems at the moment. It’s crucially important to keep our legacy production assets running, but at the same time, we have to strive to reduce the emissions of offshore activities to meet net-zero goals.
The first Halo system will be deployed later this year in US waters, which is an exciting milestone for EC-OG. We set off on the route of developing clean energy systems for oil and gas applications in 2013, firstly with our Subsea Powerhub tidal power generation system, before moving into energy storage as a reaction to market demands.
There is no established track record of large capacity, subsea lithium-ion battery systems. Certainly, none that we are aware of that will operate as part of a holistic clean energy system, with on-site power generation from a renewable energy source in the offshore environment.
Our first installations will be a statement of the technical capabilities and commercial opportunity for autonomous clean energy systems reaching beyond the oil and gas community into wider sectors of the blue economy
The energy transition is fuelled by innovative technology and alternative ways of working – EC-OG continues to lead the way.
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