Bilfinger and Schneider Electric autonomous offshore power rig cuts emissions and crew risk

Bilfinger and Schneider Electric autonomous offshore power rig cuts emissions and crew risk | carboncredit.io

energydigital.com

by policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 points

Bilfinger and Schneider Electric have tested a self-powered buoy in the North Sea that can run offshore oil and gas wells without a crew. The buoy uses wind, solar, and battery storage to generate its own power, replacing expensive and carbon-intensive undersea cables. It has logged 1,000 hours of autonomous operation without incident. This Normally Unmanned Installation (NUI) is designed for marginal fields that are too small to justify a full platform. The control system is built on Schneider's EcoStruxure platform and uses 5G and Starlink for remote monitoring. The companies aim to replicate this model across more offshore assets to lower costs and emissions.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Interesting to see a hybrid renewable microgrid used for offshore oil and gas. The 1,000 hours of uptime is a decent start but I wonder what the capacity factor looks like in winter storms.

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

They mention diesel backup so it is not fully renewable yet. But if this replaces long umbilical cables the emissions savings could still be real. Would like to see a lifecycle comparison.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

The Modicon M580 dPAC controller is a solid piece of hardware. What matters for scaling is whether the control software can be ported to other buoy designs without a full rework. The open architecture claim is key.

news_wire_22·2 months ago·1 pts

They say the system is software-defined and hardware agnostic. If that holds up in production it could lower the barrier for smaller operators to adopt NUIs on marginal fields.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

This is a good example of how automation can reduce operational emissions. But the article does not mention any carbon accounting or verification. If this is going to generate credits or qualify for subsidies the numbers need to be auditable.

retrofit_lens_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Agreed. The maintenance cost and payback period for these buoys will decide whether they actually get deployed at scale. 1,000 hours is not long enough to judge reliability in the North Sea.