Electrifying Offshore Oil and Gas Assets with Floating Offshore Wind: A Demonstrator for Future Energy Solutions

Abstract TotalEnergies is a global integrated energy company that produces and markets energies: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables, and electricity. The company affirms its ambition to be a major player in the energy transition and shares a vision of what its activities could be to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, together with society. In order to achieve its ambition, the company undertakes numerous actions to reduce its carbon emissions and produce more low-carbon electricity. TotalEnergies has launched a project to demonstrate the possibility of electrifying existing oil and gas assets in the North Sea via the installation of a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT), which will be connected to the existing Culzean Field gas platform located in the Central North Sea area approximately 230 kilometres east of Aberdeen. The involved TotalEnergies affiliate is leading the design, construction and installation project, strongly supported by the OneTech branch which is supporting the follow-up of the engineering and takes the benefit of the electrification project to develop a R&D program. This project involves conducting a hybridization showcase on an offshore oil and gas asset and qualifying a novel semi-submersible floating substructure WTG concept. This paper presents the specifics of the project, the challenges, and the benefits brought by the electrification of an offshore oil and gas platform with a Floating Wind Turbine. In particular, the following topics are addressed: A comprehensive project overview, Design, fabrication, and installation challenges of a floating wind turbine adjacent to an oil and gas asset, Modifications of the existing oil and gas platform to accommodate the connection of the floating wind turbine, Quantified greenhouse gas (GHG) savings and implications for future energy projects. This publication presents a novel approach to reducing carbon emissions from offshore oil and gas assets by demonstrating the possibility of electrifying them with Floating Offshore Wind Turbines. The project showcases the viability of such hybrid systems for future projects everywhere else in the world, and provides valuable insights into the design, construction, and installation challenges of floating wind turbines adjacent to oil and gas assets.