Integrated Power System Design for Offshore Energy Vessels and Deepwater Drilling Rigs

As exploration for new offshore oil and gas fields pushes into ever deeper water, upstream assets require ever more power for marine operations and commercial activities related to exploration, development, completions, and production. This paper will briefly introduce the different activities and conditions required for the energy assets, some of the current designs, and respective typical power plant characteristics. Comparisons will be also discussed with how drilling power plants are similar and different in design to other power plants such as production platforms and integrated electric military and commercial vessels. To successfully design the next-generation offshore energy vessels, electrical engineers will be required to leverage best practices and technology across all marine-integrated markets. An in-depth understanding of the operational mission of the vessel and the equipment required is absolutely necessary to ensure optimization of the plant and efficient distribution.