SeaTwirl increasingly sees electrification of offshore oil and gas operations as its largest target market
The chief executive of SeaTwirl, the company behind the development of an innovative, vertical axis floating wind turbine, says he sees a growing market for its technology in the electrification of offshore oil and gas platforms, rather than what he described as the ‘commodity market’ for large-scale floating windfarms.
Addressing the 2024 Offshore Wind Journal Conference in London in February, Johann Sandberg said he sees the fast-growing market for electrification of offshore oil and gas platforms and subsea infrastructure as one in which SeaTwirl can thrive. “We are not going head-to-head with the big players,” Mr Sandberg told delegates at the conference. “Our target market is smaller projects and smaller turbines.”
The SeaTwirl turbine can harvest energy irrespective of the direction the wind is blowing in. It uses the buoyancy force of water to carry the weight of the turbine. This significantly reduces the loads on the bearing, which is located in the generator foundation. The wind turbine and the foundation – a spar buoy – rotate as a unit. The turbine is stabilised by the weight of the floater. The only static, non-rotating part of the wind turbine is the generator housing, which is moored to the seabed, keeping the turbine in position.
The Gothenburg, Sweden-based firm installed a 30-kW SeaTwirl turbine, the S1, at sea in 2015. A next-generation, S2 1-MW unit is currently being developed and there are plans for a 4-6-MW S3. Larger turbines based on the design might be possible, but 4-6 MW might be the ‘sweet spot’ for the turbine and potential applications decarbonising offshore oil and gas operations.
In March 2024, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with energy management and storage specialist firm Verlume to collaborate around electrifying offshore assets and decarbonising the oil and gas industry. They will work together to identify opportunities to use renewable power combined with seabed-based energy storage and energy management systems.
Verlume chief executive Richard Knox said the MoU “is a significant step forward” for the decarbonisation of offshore assets. As a company, he explained, Verlume has designed subsea energy storage systems to be ‘agnostic’ regarding the type of renewable power used. “We believe we can jointly provide systems that deliver clean power across a range of assets and use cases in the subsea environment,” he said. Mr Sandberg said he believes the companies’ combined capabilities can facilitate decarbonisation of remote assets and hard-to-abate emissions.”
More recently, SeaTwirl has signed an agreement with Sumitomo Corp Power & Mobility that will see the companies co-operate to promote the SeaTwirl turbine in the Japanese market. Sumitomo will focus on identifying, marketing, negotiating and contracting with potential clients. SeaTwirl will be responsible for promoting and offering products and services to clients. The company noted the Japanese offshore wind market is expected to be primarily a floating wind market due to water depths off the country.
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