Huisman proposes harsh environment semi-sub to provide greenest fossil fuel and energy security
The company’s Harsh Environment Semi-Submersible Drilling Rig is aimed at making the extraction of fossil fuels as sustainable as possible while we make the transition to renewable energy, according to the company's release.
To ensure reliable access to energy at this time, Europe is being forced to consider a range of alternative sources. This includes the potential of making wider use of North Sea gas reserves – the ‘local’ offshore production offers the lowest carbon footprint relative to other fossil fuel options such as LNG and coal, while providing energy security.
The Harsh Environment Semi-Submersible Drilling Rig offers both significant cost and emissions reduction.
Examples of the rig’s efficiency include a low drag electrified robotic drilling system that offers consistent speed of operation, as well as a unique heave compensated drilling floor, able to operate in rough seas. This results in increased productivity and uptime of the rig. Together with the rig’s sustainability-focused hybrid power system, including energy storage systems storing regenerated energy, this ensures that emissions can be reduced by 30-40% per well.
A 40% reduction of onboard personnel and a large functional deck space contribute to this emission reduction.
The rig is powered with onshore-produced hydroelectricity, via a power cable from a nearby platform. Alternatively, it can be powered by two floating wind turbines, moored next to the rig. Both radical, but realistic solutions offer extreme low emissions per well. With inclusion of the wind turbines, the reduction in emissions can be increased to as much as 86%.
