In focus: To net-zero and beyond

In recent years we have seen a number of companies active in the offshore energy sector pledging to reach the net-zero emissions status by a certain point in the future. This week we reported on the first time an offshore company had pledged to go ‘beyond net-zero’.

The international oil and gas exploration and production company, Neptune Energy, is now planning to store more CO2 than it emits from its operations and the use of its sold products by 2030.

Neptune Energy said the beyond-net-zero goal will be reached through a new strategy focussing on lower-carbon energy production and integrated energy hubs.

Neptune and its partners are currently developing the L10 CCS project in the Netherlands, which could store up to 5mt of carbon per year, planning to have the project FEED-ready by the end of 2022. A final investment decision is due in 2023 while the first carbon injection could be in 2026.

In addition, the firm is pursuing a CCS storage and appraisal licence in the UK, and further potential opportunities in the UK and Norway. This is in line with its aim to store more carbon for third-party emitters than is emitted from its operations and the use of its sold products by 2030 through CCS.

The week also saw the Greek subsea power cable manufacturer, Hellenic Cables, submit its near and long-term net-zero targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The company, which has recently been very active in the offshore wind sector, has committed to a 50% reduction of direct and indirect emissions (scope 1 and 2) for 2030 from a 2020 base year and net-zero emissions (scopes 1, 2 and 3) for 2050.

The initiative also commits to increasing the annual sourcing of renewable electricity to 80% and 100%, by 2025 and 2030, respectively.

”We prioritize the urgency of deep and immediate mitigation actions, halving emissions before 2030 and achieving net-zero before 2050. We have already started to pull available levers; we engage with our supply chain and all relevant stakeholders, as well in the energy transformation journey, encouraging them to align with climate science,” said Alexis Alexiou, CEO of Cenergy Holdings and Hellenic Cables.

Electrification is one of the major pillars supporting the path towards net-zero and beyond for companies active in the offshore energy market.

Neptune Energy plans to use electrification of its operations where economically feasible in its plans to go beyond net-zero.

The company’s short-term focus for electrification is on Norway as it plans to pursue electrification to decarbonise some of its highest-producing assets where the regulatory regime is supportive.

One of the ways to electrify and decarbonise the operations of offshore oil and gas assets is to harness and utilise the energy of offshore wind, and wave and tidal energy.

Earlier this week, Canada-based hydrokinetic energy company, Waterotor International Corp, unveiled a 20MW hybrid offshore renewable energy system that can simultaneously extract power from slow-moving water and wind.

The so-called ‘Big Cajun’ is being developed to help the ‘big oil’ reduce its carbon footprint and drastically lower costs by replacing diesel-generated electricity production on platforms that, according to Waterotor, each consume 33,000 gallons of fossil fuel per day at an annual cost of over $70 million.

”Waterotor’s technology will provide access to a massive, untouched source of renewable energy for the first time. No one has successfully commercialized energy production from flat moving water,” Fred Ferguson, Waterotor’s founder & CEO, said.

”Within the next year, we expect a major global corporation and/or power company to license our technology for ocean-produced electricity. This is the beginning of a new era.”

Another company developing tidal energy technology, Mocean Energy, raised a little over €875,000 equity funding from existing funders this week to accelerate the commercial roll-out of its wave energy technology, the Blue Star wave machine, and drive its adoption in offshore oil and gas sector.

Mocean Energy will now work towards coupling the Blue Star with underwater energy storage to provide reliable low carbon power to subsea equipment and autonomous underwater vehicles. According to Mocean Energy, the plans are in place to test the system at sea later in 2022.

”This year we’ll start fabricating Blue Star 10 – a 10kW machine based around the Blue X design which will begin commercial trails in 2023. In parallel we are developing our next-generation Blue Star 20, a 20kW machine based on a new optimized geometry, which will include solar panels and a novel direct drive generator, with trials and rollout targeted for 2024-25,” Mocean Energy’s managing director Cameron McNatt said.

”Both products are aimed at opportunities in the oil and gas energy transition, defense, offshore wind, and ocean science markets where they can be used to provide power to remote subsea equipment, robotics, and monitoring systems.”

As previously reported, the Scottish seabed manager, Crown Estate Scotland is launching a seabed lease dedicated solely to small-scale innovative offshore wind projects of less than 100 MW, as well as larger projects connected to oil and gas infrastructure to provide electricity and reduce the carbon emissions associated with those sites. The bidding window will open in June 2022.

The companies are already showing interest in participating in the auction and positioning themselves prominently within this emerging market.

One of these companies is the Norwegian subsea contractor, Havfram. The company said that it had identified oil and gas electrification as one of the next big Power-to-X offshore wind markets. Havfram added that its engineering team is already developing a low-cost offshore wind solution specifically designed for electrifying offshore oil and gas facilities.

According to Havfram, with more than 1,500 active offshore oil and gas platforms globally, requiring between 30 MW and 80 MW of power each, the size of the market for electrification is significant.

The company has already entered early partnership discussions for the Scottish Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing opportunity.

”Our strong expertise in O&G, teamed with our growing technical capabilities in offshore wind, is the perfect combination of skills required for O&G electrification projects. Furthermore, we see the demand for electrification increasing globally and are positioning ourselves to meet this demand,” said Odd Strømsnes, Havfram CEO.

Zero-emission containerships could become a reality as soon as 2024, according to the California-based marine technology startup, Boundary Layer Technologies, the developer of the ARGO concept.

ARGO — a zero-emissions hydrofoiling containerships – are intended to replace air freight along major intra-Asia trade lanes.

According to Boundary Layer Technologies, the ARGO ship has a gross payload capacity of 200 tons, a range of up to 1,500 nautical miles, and a cruise speed of 40 knots, which is twice that of conventional containerships.

This performance would enable door-door transit times only 15 to 24 hours slower than air freight, but at 50% of the price, according to the company.

ARGO is powered by green hydrogen and fuel cells, which are stored as a liquid inside its two hulls. ARGO can also be applied to replace other transport modes aside from air freight, the company said.

A hydrofoil is a submerged wing device used to lift the hull from the water to reduce drag. The company has already completed the development of key pieces of ARGO’s technology stack, and is on track to perform full scale sub system tests by the end of 2023.

The company is currently selecting launch partners for an intra-Asia ARGO service launching in Q3 2024 to ship finished goods and components for major electronic manufacturers in the region.

At 110 ft long and 20 TEU capacity, ARGO is a fraction of the size of conventional containerships. This unusually small size could be the key to solving many supply chain issues, according to Ed Kearney, CEO and Founder of Boundary Layer Technologies.

”ARGO’s small size and payload capacity (comparable to a B747-400F freighter aircraft) cuts dwell time to only 2 hours instead of 3 days, and offers the flexibility of docking virtually anywhere. This allows ARGO to bypass heavily congested ports while also competing with air freight transit times,” Kearney said.