Norwegian offshore energy engineering and construction company Aker Solutions has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the oil firm OKEA for the electrification of OKEA's Draugen offshore platform.
The Draugen oil field sits in about 250 meters of water, and is located around 150 kilometers north of Kristiansund.
The project is planned to involve major modifications to the existing platform to enable it to receive power from shore via an electrical power cable. This will replace the current power generation from gas turbines at the platform and reduce CO2 emissions by about 200,000 tonnes per year.
Aker Solutions expects the LOI to be converted into a full engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract during the first quarter of 2023.
The company expects to book a "substantial" order intake related to this contract in the first quarter of 2023 in the Electrification, Maintenance, and Modifications (EMM) segment, subject to regulatory approvals.
Aker Solutions defines a substantial contract as between NOK 2.5 billion (currently around $255,59 million and NOK 4.0 billion (currently around $408 million).
The award of the LOI follows completion of front-end engineering and design (FEED) work performed by Aker Solutions.
OKEA operates the giant Draugen platform at the namesake field off Norway, which started producing oil in October 1993.
OKEA acquired its interests in the Draugen and Gjøa offshore fields in Norway for 4.52 Billion NOK from Shell in 2018. Draugen achieved peak output of about 225 000 bopd in 2001.
Back in October 2021, OKEA also signed an agreement for a project that could see the Draugen platform powered by floating wind turbines to be supplied by Odfjell OceanWind.
In an interview with Offshore Engineer, Odjfell OceanWind's CEO shared more information on the agreement. Read Here.