U.S.-based vessel owner Edison Chouest Offshore has executed the first long-term contract with an unnamed major oil and gas company in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to install a battery-on-board (BoB) system aboard an ECO 312′ Class platform supply vessel (PSV), with options for additional systems.
According to a Monday statement by Edison, the vessel has been augmented with the latest sustainable BoB technology in order to reduce the carbon footprint during operations and port standby periods.
Edison Chouest added it is working alongside its affiliate Marine Technologies to use proprietary, class-certified automation.
The company claimed that this integrated solution between marine propulsion and battery system will be “the first of its kind to allow the PSV to work on one generator in the 500-meter zone”.
However, another U.S.-based offshore vessel operator, Harvey Gulf International Marine , begs to differ.
Namely, Harvey Gulf noted on Monday that, despite news reports that Edison Chouest Offshore will be the first to operate a US Flag PSV with battery power, Harvey Gulf, in fact, had already completed three months of successful operations with battery power on the tri-fueled PSV Harvey Energy . The vessel operates on LNG, battery power, and diesel fuel.
Upon commissioning of the battery system, the Harvey Energy immediately went on hire for a term contract with a major oil company.
Moreover, the second US-flagged PSV that will operate utilizing battery power will be the PSV Harvey Champion, in January, Harvey Gulf added.
Back to Edison Chouest, the company said that this integrated solution, in conjunction both with signing the first-ever U.S. flagged “Jones-Act” compliant Service Operations Vessel (SOV) for offshore wind as well as its use of its proprietary shore power system, C-Power, helps Edison Chouest achieve long-term emissions reductions.
Dino Chouest , Executive Vice President of Edison Chouest, said: “In pursuit of our long-term vision for renewable energy development and reduced emissions, Edison Chouest Offshore strives to improve efficiency through technology and innovation”.
Chouest added: “Through these efforts, we can reduce our carbon footprint and protect the environment for future generations, while our technological innovations make our customers’ offshore operations more efficient and cost-effective”.