Emissions reduction solutions that are ready have to be implemented at a rapid pace, if the Norwegian oil and gas industry is to meet its 2030 targets.
The LowEmission research centre held its Annual Consortium Days on 23-24 November in Trondheim. It was an occasion for researchers and industry representatives to exchange ideas and learn about the latest technological developments. The event gathered around 100 participants.
The “code red” signals from the UN are clear, says Hege Rognø, Head of Equinor’s technology development within Low Carbon Oil and Gas Technologies, in her keynote speech. More needs to happen, faster, to reach 50% emissions reduction by 2030.Gunnar Lille Managing Director at OG21 – Oil and Gas for the 21st Century, talks about the changes in the energy context due to the Ukraine war, and how these changes impact energy transition plans.Linda Karlsen, VP Performance, Aker Solutions, presents her organisation’s plans to make renewables and transitional energy solutions their biggest business in 2030LowEmission Centre Director Stefania Gardarsdottir presented a summary of the Centre’s activity over the past year.
Two panel debates took place. The first one, moderated by Centre Chair Espen Enge (Repsol), was about using innovation to accelerate the implementation of new solutions.
LowEmission Centre Chair Espen Enge (Repsol).The participants in the first panel were Astri Kvassnes (Restone), Torleif Husebø (Petroleum Safety Authority Norway), Eli Grong Aursand (SINTEF TTO and Venture), and Andrea Schmueli (SINTEF).
In the second panel debate, participants discussed the fact that lots of emissions reduction technologies are ready to go, but are not being implemented due to barriers. Such barriers can be competition between companies and knowledge gaps from one sector to the other. The conclusion was that collaboration must increase between companies, whether they are vendors or operators, to rapidly implement the decarbonisation solutions that are ready.
The second panel debate was moderated by Kristin Jordal (SINTEF).Participants in the second panel debate were Jill Leikvoll (Aker Solutions), Lennart Näs (Siemens Energy), Asmund Maeland (ABB), Gunnar Lille (OG21), and Kristian Skavang (Aibel).
A number of technical and scientific presentations were also given, both by PhD candidates, the industry and participants in case studies and spin-off projects of LowEmission.
Øyvind Lindgård (SINTEF) spoke about the challenges related to the presence of residual ammonia in hydrogen used in fuel cells, when converting hydrogen into ammonia for more efficient transportation.Jessica Gaucherand (NTNU) presents her PhD research about the use of numerical tools for ammonia as a fuel in internal combustion engines.Magnus Bengtsson (Nexans) presents the company’s work on wet design subsea Cables. Dry design cables contain lead, which protects them from water intrusions. A wet design is deprived of this lead layer, but this also means lower weight, lower cost, lower external dimensions and better flexibility for dynamic applications (such as connecting floating wind turbines). The downside of this design is the risk of water treeing; a complex phenomenon where microscopic water intrusions appear and damage the cable. Nexans is working on this challenge together with research partners at the LowEmission centre, as part of the Ocean Grid Green Platform project, and as part of the FutureCare IPN project.
The closing address was given by Simen Moxnes, Senior Advisor New Energy Systems at Equinor. In his speech, he outlined how the North Sea can remain a European energy centre after the energy transition. Maintaining production of oil and gas, but a decarbonised version of it, is central to Equinor’s strategy. Revenues from that sector will help finance offshore wind, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen as a zero-emission fuel. In turn, offshore wind will help decarbonise oil and gas production, and CCS will enable the upscaling of hydrogen production.
Simen Moxnes, Senior Advisor New Energy Systems at Equinor.
LowEmission researches cleaner offshore energy systems and integration with renewable power production technologies. It started its activities in 2019 and will be in operation until 2026.
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