DeNovo orders wind/solar-powered platform for Zandolie project offshore Trinidad

Aquaterra Energy has completed engineering design for a renewable energy-powered Sea Swift offshore platform for DeNovo Energy.

The unmanned minimal facilities platform, part of the Zandolie field development in the Gulf of Paria, off western Trinidad, is due to be installed later this year.

It will be installed in a water depth of 20 metres (65.6 feet) and tied back to the Iguana field facilities.

The Sea Swift offshore platform will be self-powered by a wind turbine and a solar bank, with a battery for storing excess power. According to Aquaterra, the dual-energy arrangement should reduce intermittency risk, and eliminates the need for diesel generators for power.

This should lower emissions, including those associated with maintenance and logistics for refuelling visits to the platform.

In addition, the platform be equipped with intelligent monitoring technology, so maintenance personnel should only need to visit when alerted via onshore systems.

The platform is also engineered to withstand seismic activity, and to be installed via a jack-up rather than a higher-cost heavy-lift vessel.

Finally, as Aquaterra points out, the design’s reduced steel requirement and focus on using available infrastructure should help cut time to first offshore production.

Bryan Ramsumair, managing director at DeNovo, said: “We have built off our existing infrastructure for our Iguana field, which has enabled a smaller platform for our second field development.

“We are confident that this will enable the Zandolie platform to be fabricated in Trinidad and Tobago.”

Source: Offshore Magazine