Conductor Installation Services (CIS) successfully completed its second subsea piling campaign for Technip in Norway.
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Deck Layout close-up. Image from Technip. |
CIS used its remotely operated Subsea Piling System, which makes it possible to drive piles as large as 36in in diameter, in water depths to 300m.
In August, the piles were driven remotely to secure the subsea Boa Extension Manifold, which makes up an integral part of the Alvheim development, approximately 225km west of Stavanger.
The development, which transports oil to the UK Scottish Area Gas Evacuation System, is designed to increase oil recovery by enhancing current production rates via three new subsea well step-outs at East Kameleon, Kneler A and Boa.
Subsea piling installation completed in seven hours
Once rigorous testing of all equipment was completed, the CIS team mobilized with piling and pile-lifting equipment to the Alvheim field. Working from the Skandi Arctic dive support vessel in maximum water depths of 130m, CIS successfully drove the four 30in manifold piles.
Although the seemingly impenetrable soil formation encountered at the Alvheim manifold site made the final 5m of each individual driving operation more difficult than a previous operation carried out on nearby Boyla field, the Subsea Piling System performed flawlessly. Each pile was successfully driven into the seabed to its respective target depth of 11.25m. The subsea operation was successfully completed in seven hours, in half of the time originally planned. All four piles were driven with a 90kJ hydraulic hammer in just 160 minutes.
“CIS delivered a well-maintained spread, and personnel who were very proactive during the run-up to the campaign and offshore,” said Mark Underhill, project manager for Technip Norge. “Based on the performance on Boa, I would have no reservation in recommending their services for future projects for Technip.”
“Our Subsea Piling System performed reliably, allowing us to drive the piles subsea very efficiently,” said Andy Penman, group managing director of CIS. “We have now completed two successful subsea piling campaigns for Technip in just 14 months: one on Alvheim and another on Bøyla field last year. Looking ahead, we hope to be in a position to drive more subsea piles for Technip as our relationship continues to develop.”
The subsea piling process is carried out by an experienced CIS engineer from a control unit and monitoring system located onboard a nearby vessel. A hydraulic hammer, connected via an electronic umbilical cable to the control system, is lowered into the water and placed directly over the subsea pile. Once it is accurately positioned, the pile will be driven into the seabed by the hammer until it reaches its target depth.
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