It’s Good News Monday!
This Monday we talk about:
Geothermal Energy: A New Life for Old Offshore Oil Wells?
Noble Corp. Nets New Rig Contracts, Extensions. Sees Uptick in Tender Activity
Stena Bulk Unveils Innovative Modular Bulk Carrier Design
Solstad Offshore Bags North Sea Charters for PSV Quartet
Lightsource bp solar farm powers bp service stations with 100% renewable energy in Australia
Siemens Gamesa Picks Cadeler to Transport and Install Giant 14MW Offshore Wind Turbines
Image Credit: Offshore Engineer.
Aquarius North Sea Geothermal Consortium is working with North Sea operators to explore using old wells for geothermal energy. Some fields are producing more than 100,000 barrels of water per day at a high enough temperature that they could be used to produce power. Instead of shutting down old wells that no longer produce oil, some fields could produce as much as 10-20 MW of power from heat energy. Other companies involved are dCarbonX, founded last year, and Danish firm Ross DK. Right now, the energy would be used offshore to offset other fuels, but future plans may involve getting the energy onshore as well.
Noble Clyde Boudreaux - Credit: Noble Corp. Image from Offshore Engineer.
Noble Corporation, an offshore drilling contractor, is seeing an increase in contracts and activity. The company completed Chapter 11 restructuring in February and is seeing new contracts and additions. The Noble Sam Turner rig just acquired a two-year contract starting March 2021. The Noble Tom Prosser jack-up starts a new 270-day contract in May. The Roger Lewis rig and Noble Scott Marks jack-up are both on reduced rate contracts for 2021 calendar year, raising prices after. Many others are on contract as well. According to the CEO, "We remain highly focused on putting our assets to their best and highest use, and, to that end, look forward to commencing operations for the Noble Lloyd Noble in Norway later this year."
Stena Bulk InfinityMAX concept vessel design. Credit: Stena Bulk. Image from gCaptain.
Stena Bulk’s new ship design uses modular compartments for wet and dry cargoes, with wind and solar produce all the power needed for the systems. The standardized cargo units could carry methane, hydrogen, ammonia, or any type of product. Units can be dropped off outside of ports, with tugs taking them in, which is expected to reduce call times and port congestion significantly. “The InfinityMAX concept will also incorporate collapsible wing sails and a shark skin hull to further improve efficiency.” With the right technology, the InfinityMAX could go into service between 2030 and 2035.
Credit: Solstad Offshore. Image from Offshore Engineer.
“Solstad Offshore has secured contracts for four of its platform supply vessels in the North Sea, with Total, Equinor, and Serica, respectively.” Normand Springer was awarded a contract from Total UK for one year, plus a one-year option, starting in March 2021. Normand Sitella and Sea Falcon have contracts with Equinor UK supporting the rig West Hercules, starting in Q2 2021. Normand Service will start a contract with Serica Energy in March 2021, supporting the jack-up drilling rig Maersk Resilient.
bp service station. Image Credit: bp.
Lightsource bp is working with Snowy Hydro for renewable energy to power 88 service stations in New South Wales, Australia. The PPA will enable the construction of a 107MWdc solar farm in West Wyalong, New South Wales. Snowy Hydro will then purchase two-thirds of the energy generated, supplying energy to bp. Starting January 2023, the 88 stations will be powered by 100% renewable energy.
“Adam Pegg, country manager, Lightsource bp - Australia, said: ‘We are delighted to be able to leverage our existing relationship with Snowy Hydro on our solar farm in Wellington, to sign this PPA with our West Wyalong project. Being able to facilitate powering bp’s service stations in New South Wales with renewable electricity from our West Wyalong solar farm is an achievement which demonstrates our commitment to provide sustainable and affordable energy to our communities.’”
Image: Siemens Gamesa. Image from Offshore Engineer.
Cadeler, previously known as Swire Blue Ocean, has received the largest contract in the company’s history from Siemens Gamesa to install their new SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines. The contract is $90 million, with $30 million in options. At the time of installation, they will likely be the largest turbines in the world, each preventing 1.4 million tons of CO2 over it’s 25 year lifetime. No further details were released, but Cadeler was clear that this is the largest contract not just under the name Cadeler, but also Swire Blue Ocean when it was founded in 2008.
Smile, it’s Good News Monday! :-)
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