Ping Petroleum UK and Cerulean Winds have signed an agreement to construct one of a new wave of oil and gas platforms that will be primarily powered by renewable energy.
While the consumption of oil and gas as fuel results in carbon emissions, the overall lifetime emissions can be reduced by decarbonising the production process. For example, BP, the maker of Castrol commercial vehicle oil and other lubricant products, is scaling down its hydrocarbons production while focusing on reducing the emissions intensity of its remaining operations.
Cerulean says its new project, which will use a floating wind turbine to provide power to a new platform at Ping Petroleum’s Avalon play, will reduce the facility’s CO2 emissions by some 20,000 metric tonnes, which is roughly equivalent to 4,000 cars being taken off the roads. The turbine is also expected to produce more power than Ping Petroleum’s production vessel needs, so the companies are looking at supplying surplus energy to other producers nearby.
In a statement, Founding Director Dan Jackson of Cerulean Winds said about this:
“This project will demonstrate how we can harness the power of affordable, offshore wind to deliver significant reductions in the carbon emissions of oil and gas production. The UK has a golden opportunity to make our domestic oil and gas production the cleanest in the world…”
Jackson added that this would also help create thousands of jobs as the green economy scales up. Cerulean will manufacture the floating wind turbine in the UK, helping to kick start the supply chain for building such turbines.
