October 17, 2011 - ABB won an order worth about $36 million from oil services company Aker Solutions to provide drives and transformers to their subsea power distribution system for the Asgard subsea oil and gas field operated by Norway’s Statoil. The order was booked in the third quarter. ABB’s equipment will ensure reliable power, as well as optimized motor speed and control, for the world's first subsea gas compression system from onboard the Asgard A floating vessel off the northern coast of Norway. The electrical system will be able to transmit 15 megavolt-amperes and 189 hertz, enough to power over 10,000 homes, over a distance of 43 kilometers.
Once completed, this will be a world record distance as well as the highest voltage and frequency achieved between a drive on a floating production facility and a compressor on the seabed. “The distance and voltage requirement of this operation make it a milestone project for the oil and gas industry,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “ABB continues to build on its experience as the global leader in subsea electrification; our technology, project experience and engineering resources were crucial to winning this important order.” ABB drives and subsea transformer contribute to extend the productivity, profitability and lifespan of existing offshore oil and gas fields.
As extraction gets further away from processing operations, the ability to provide reliable power becomes more challenging. ABB has already worked with Aker Solutions on a similar project, to power a subsea water injection system in Statoil’s Tyrihans field, 31 km from the surface operating platform. ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 130,000 people.