Odfjell rigs to feature Siemens technology to lower emissions
Jan. 28, 2021
Odfjell Drilling will retrofit two of its semisubmersible drilling rigs with the Siemens Energy BlueDrive DC-Grid system.
(Courtesy Odfjell Drilling)
The semisubmersible drilling rig Deepsea Nordkapp.
Offshore staff
MUNICH, Germany – Odfjell Drilling will retrofit two of its semisubmersible drilling rigs with the Siemens Energy BlueDrive DC-Grid system.
The upgrades will be carried out on the Deepsea Atlantic and Deepsea Nordkapp, with the opportunity to include the Deepsea Stavanger, Deepsea Aberdeen, and Deepsea Yantai at a later stage.
The Siemens Energy BlueDrive DC-Grid solution consists of DC/DC converters connected to the existing four drilling drive DC buses from one side and to DC/DC converters connected to energy-storage systems. This allows platform operators to conduct peak shaving of drilling loads, so fewer generator sets can run at higher and steadier loads. This reduces fuel consumption and carbon emissions, improving sustainability, and minimizing a rig’s carbon footprint.
Also, the solution is expected to increase the power plant’s reliability by reducing blackouts, which will prevent downtime and boost asset utilization.
According to Siemens Energy, the BlueDrive system will enhance the drillstring’s performance when applying high torque during drilling.
