Nordic partnership targets oil and gas platforms emissions cut using wave tech

Oil and gas company Lundin Energy Norway has partnered up with Swedish wave energy developer Ocean Harvesting Technologies to explore the potential of using wave energy to decarbonise the production of oil and gas on offshore platforms.

The companies are collaborating on a new R&D study on how installation of wave energy converters could potentially provide clean, stable and cost-effective electricity to an offshore oil and gas platform.

The one-year project will run until February 2022 and will provide valuable data and information on how to electrify major offshore operations with wave power.

It will also set both Ocean Harvesting Technologies and Lundin Energy Norway at the forefront of decarbonisation of oil and gas production in support of the shift to a lower carbon and sustainable energy future, the companies expect.

Kristin Færøvik, managing director of Lundin Energy Norway, said: ”Lundin Energy Norway is a leader in decarbonisation. Our assets are already highly efficient and low-carbon. However, the challenges to the wider sector in decarbonising production can be significant, especially offshore. We are therefore excited to work with Ocean Harvesting Technologies to identify new ways of powering offshore activities with their innovative wave energy convertor solution”.

Mikael Sidenmark, CEO at Ocean Harvesting Technologies, added: “This case study, aiming to develop a specification and system design for a wave power installation at an oil and gas platform, will provide valuable input for Ocean Harvesting Technologies in better understanding the requirements for such an installation. The project will guide us through the early validation stages of our commercialization”.

In a future aligned with a 2-degree pathway, oil still plays an important role and is estimated to account for around 23% of the global energy mix in 2040, compared to 31% today.

But in order to meet both future energy demand and climate targets, it is critical to decarbonise the production of oil and gas as much as possible.

Lundin Energy’s carbon intensity per barrel of oil produced is approximately a sixth of the industry world average and the company will be one of the first oil and gas companies to achieve carbon neutrality from 2025, according to the company.

Earlier in the week, Lundin Energy sold the world’s first-ever certified carbon neutrally produced oil to Saras from its Edvard Grieg field offshore Norway.

The field is certified as low-carbon at 3.8 kg of CO2 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) for the full life of field emissions, including exploration, development, and production – this is considered as five times less than the world average.