Advances in alternative power engineering, especially in battery technology, are enabling new applications which are of great interest to the offshore oil and gas sector. In two projects DNV GL is cooperating with industry partners to determine how the industry can benefit.
Offshore vessels offer an attractive business case for hybrid power solutions incorporating batteries. In many operational situations the on-board power demand fluctuates greatly, placing extreme loads on the generating equipment. While the common diesel-electric power and propulsion systems are quite flexible, they tend to operate inefficiently when running at very low loads for extended periods of time while occasional peak loads are expected. Furthermore, battery systems can provide backup power to meet the strict redundancy requirements for dynamic positioning (DP).