Shell’s new solar-powered platform with 20-year design life on its way to offshore gas field (Gallery)

Sarawak Shell, a subsidiary of the UK-headquartered energy giant Shell, is setting all the puzzle pieces together to kick off production from a natural gas development off the coast of Malaysia. The latest milestone in this project comes with the jacket and topside sail-away events for an offshore platform specifically built for the project and designed to run on solar energy.

Topside sail-away of a solar-powered unmanned offshore platform has taken place almost two years after Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering (MMHE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings (MHB), won a contract with Shell to undertake the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services related to the new offshore platform – including a topside, a four-legged jacket, and piles – destined for the Rosmari-Marjoram gas project off the coast of Sarawak.

With a combined total weight of approximately 11,000 mt, the topside left the MMHE West Yard on September 26, 2024, to begin its journey to an area off the coast of Bintulu, Sarawak. Two weeks before, a jacket, said to be one of the longest to be fabricated with innovative U-Loop design features at 158 meters, was delivered to the same location.

The Malaysian firm underlines the project achieved 2.8 million exposure hours without a single lost time injury (LTI) and with zero defects. Shell made a final investment decision (FID) in 2022 to develop the Rosmari-Marjoram gas project, containing deepwater sour gas fields discovered in 2014.

They are situated 220 kilometers (km) off the coast of Bintulu, Sarawak, and will be powered by renewable energy, using solar power for the offshore platform. Shell is the operator of the SK318 Block where the project is situated and Petronas Carigali acts as its partner.

After the unmanned platform becomes fully operational, it will harness renewable energy via solar panels to export about 800 million standard cubic feet of gas per day from the Rosmari and Marjoram fields. With a design life of 20 years, it will supply natural gas to the Bintulu Onshore Gas Plant, Sarawak.

“Congratulations to our client, Sarawak Shell Berhad, our partners, and everyone involved for making this achievement possible. Onward to greater achievements,” said MMHE.

The Rosemari-Marjoram project’s start-up is targeted for 2026, enabling it to supply natural gas to the Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu, Sarawak.