Oilfield services company SLB has, through its joint venture OneSubsea, secured a contract from Equinor for the front-end engineering design (FEED) of a 12-well, all-electric subsea production systems project in the Fram Sør field, offshore Norway.
The project could help fast-track wide-scale global adoption of electric subsea technology, setting new standards for increased operator control, subsea operational efficiency and reduced offshore emissions.
As part of the agreement, future engineering, procurement and construction will be directly awarded to SLB OneSubsea conditional on a final investment decision.
The project is the first application to be implemented that results from a joint industry project, which commenced in 2018 and involved close collaboration across major industry players to accelerate the development of breakthrough electrification technology through a standardized industry solution.
Basing the design on an established standard enables efficient and economic scaling of subsea electrification for operators worldwide, bringing associated CAPEX and OPEX benefits, according to SBS.
“Electrification is vital to the future of subsea operations in the energy transition. This technology has effectively created the IoT for subsea trees, providing operators with improved control through live performance and condition monitoring.
“We are grateful for the collaboration with Equinor and the other joint-industry-partners over the past six years that has made this milestone possible,” said Mads Hjelmeland, chief executive officer of SLB OneSubsea.
The Fram Sør solution will use SLB OneSubsea’s standard subsea tree design, upgraded with a fully electrified power, control and actuation system, while the elimination of high-pressure hydraulic systems will enable operators to go further and deeper, improving production and making even marginal fields more viable.
SLB OneSubsea is a joint venture backed by SLB, Aker Solutions, and Subsea7 headquartered in Oslo and Houston, with 10,000 employees across the world.