Sustainable power solutions

The drive for sustainable power solutions

In the face of increasingly stringent environmental regulations and ESG considerations, power solutions providers are stepping up to help oil and gas operators meet emissions reduction targets and minimise their carbon footprint. Louise Waters and Robert Daniels report.

THE OFFSHORE OIL and gas industry presents huge power requirements, and an uninterrupted power supply is essential for smooth operations. With increased climate change pressures, there is a growing demand for sustainable power solutions which at the same time satisfy customer demand for reliability, improved efficiency and lower fuel costs.

Versatile approach

Caterpillar Oil & Gas argues that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to meeting environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals in oil and gas, highlighting its versatile approach and commitment to innovation.

“We’re constantly seeking solutions that can help you achieve fuel savings, greater durability and higher productivity while meeting your environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals,” the company states.

With this in mind, Caterpillar has recently added some innovative solutions and emerging technologies to its product line-up: • Semi-modular power plants: This fully turnkey solution supports energy companies interested in self-generating electricity. Pre-fabricated modules house

Cat generators and switchgear needed to connect to an electrical substation. Gas that otherwise would be flared is converted into usable electricity, reducing GHG emissions and operating costs. • Land drilling energy storage system: This first-of-its-kind hybrid system pairs natural gas generator sets with a robust battery storage system. It enables land drilling rig engines to run entirely on natural gas, reducing site emissions and fuel costs. • Dynamic Gas Blending Engines for Well

Service: The award-winning 3512E U.S.

EPA Tier 4 Final DGB Engine delivers the same power, performance and reliability as the diesel model but in a dual-fuel platform that can run on flare gas (as well as CNG,

LNG or pipeline gas). The engine automatically maximises the amount of

natural gas used to displace diesel up to a maximum diesel displacement rate of 85%, reducing an operation’s overall GHG footprint and cutting fuel costs significantly. • Dynamic Gas Blending generator sets for

Land Drilling: Built on a traditional dieselelectric platform, DGB generator sets can operate on CNG, LNG, pipeline gas and field gas — all of which cost less than diesel. • Engine idle reduction system: Available on its well service engines, this simple hardware technology automatically stops and restarts the engines on a frac rig

between pumping stages, using batteries to provide auxiliary power to the trailer. That reduces fuel consumption, working hours and preventive maintenance — lowering operating costs and improving profitability. • Electric motors: For gas compression applications, the company offers a full line of electric motors that produce zero emissions on location — ideal for highly regulated regions.

The Rolls-Royce Hybrid Drilling Package (HDP).

The engine automatically maximises the amount of natural gas used to displace diesel.”

Sustainable solutions

Rolls-Royce have outlined that their central focus is to develop and distribute sustainable solutions for their power generation plants and drive and propulsion systems. In pursuit of this, each year, the company commits two-thirds of their annual research and development investment budget into improving the environmental performance of their products. The fruits of this are clear to see with each offering providing benefits such as reduced fuel consumption and a reduction in emissions.

For instance, the company has noted that drilling contractors are increasingly concerned with saving money on fuel and maintenance expenses while at the same time requiring their electric drilling rigs to drill harder and faster than ever before. Rolls-Royce has released the mtu Hybrid Drilling Package (HDP) to address these challenges. This comprises of a combination of proven technologies in oil and gas power generation and energy storage, purpose-built for demanding operations. The HDP aims to deliver scalable solutions which can, compared against a non-hybrid solution, reduce fuel consumption by 15%; reduce emissions via fuel savings and efficiency improvements; reduce OPEX through genset operating hours (>40% reduction years); recapture energy; provide immediate power with ESS for transient responses for peak shaving and spinning power reserves; and double the TBO of gensets.

Rolls-Royce have also extended out their mtu Hybrid E-Frac Power System (HEFPS), a combination of critical natural gas powered gensets and intelligent battery energy storage systems, which can be easily integrated with virtually all types of frac setups and applications. This HEFPS facilitates a more efficient autonomous system that intelligently manages and optimises mission critical power supply assets and offers the chance to reduce emissions by up to 80% and power generations cost of ownership by 50% in comparison to the Tier 2 diesel system.

Committing to net zero

To ensure they are well on their way to achieving net zero by 2050, Aggreko have committed to three main goals which they hope to fulfil by the end of the decade; to offer customers cleaner technologies and fuels to reduce the amount of fossil diesel fuel used by customer solutions by at least 50%; to reduce local air quality emissions from their solutions by 50%; and to achieve net zero across all of their own business operations.

At the start of 2021 the company set out its intentions for the upcoming year to build towards these targets by investing in more clean energy alternatives, such as e-fuels and hydrogen engines; accelerate its offering of more efficient solutions such as temperature control and energy recovery; grow its portfolio of mobile and modular solar power and battery storage; and continue on its digitalisation journey with emphasis on remote monitoring and data analytics.

Aggreko has also taken up the challenge of reducing flaring through its flare gas to power projects. Applying their technical expertise to each separate situation, Aggreko provides operators with the ability to repurpose gas to provide power for operations, saving money on fuel costs and reducing their net carbon emissions. Across the globe, the company has now reached 1GW of installed power capacity through this, converting around 9.5mn cu ft per MW/h of associated petroleum gas (APG).

In the Middle East, Aggreko has pioneered two flare gas to power projects with a combined installed capacity of 170MW. One of these projects, situated in Oman, posed a number of challenges such as extreme temperature, heavy fog and a remote location. These were all overcome through the implementation of a number of bespoke solutions, such as engineering a solution to treat, scrub and cool the gas so that it was usable and replacing the 5MW of decentralised diesel power generators located at each site with a centralised 4MW continuous gas power centre, which was made up of 10QSK60 gas generators along with a gas conditioning skid. With the successful delivery of the project, the operator now achieves savings of US$600,000 each year.

Visa SpA’s solutions are used in a variety of industrial sectors, including the oil and gas industry.

In the Middle East, Aggreko has pioneered two flare gas to power projects.”

Environment protection

Visa SpA provides a wide range of solutions to ensure reliable and high-quality power. In more than 60 years of power generation, the Italian company has been developing sustainable solutions for many sectors across the globe, such as industry, data centres, healthcare, airports, military and civil protection, as well as independent power stations.

In 2018, the company started to plan the first steps of transition to adapt to the new regulation for off-road mobile applications, known as Stage V, to be ready to adopt the new engines as soon as possible.

Known for its responsibility towards protecting the environment, Visa SpA counts on a research and development team of engineers constantly engaged in studying the best possibilities to meet the client’s needs while guaranteeing reliability and sustainability.

The reliability and versatility of its products are due to the use of the best components and latest technology, particularly focusing on green themes, to offer significant energy savings as well as a decreased operating cost.

All manufactured generating sets are designed to minimise environmental impact and maximise noise reduction. The machines destined for mobile use fully comply with the latest EU standards for noise and exhaust emissions and are equipped with specific accessories and protections.

As part of its continuous improvement process towards environmental protection, Visa SpA has introduced in its whole range of products high performance exhaust mufflers, best systems for the treatment of exhaust gases, with high noise reduction including a particulate filter.

As well as the gensets, Visa SpA’s industry motor pumps, particularly suitable for many oil and gas applications, are equipped with Stage V engines, and the company is regularly assembling this kind of more sophisticated engine in its product ranges. n