Pioneering Offshore Energy Integration

Recently Subsea7 joined the NSE programme. We interviewed Stian Sande, Strategy Director Energy Transition to get to know this new partner.

• Stian, who is Subsea7 and what do you do?

Subsea7 is a global leader in the delivery of offshore projects and services for the energy industry. We are making the offshore energy transition possible through the continuous evolution of lower-carbon oil and gas and by enabling the growth of renewables and emerging energy.

We provide project management, engineering, procurement, construction and installation expertise across the full energy lifecycle. Our focus is very much at a system level, and we enable the design and construction of complex subsea systems through the application of our own, our key suppliers’ and our partners’, technology and equipment.  Our services are delivered to clients across the energy landscape, covering oil and gas, carbon capture and storage (CCS), offshore wind (fixed and floating) and emerging energies such as offshore hydrogen and energy storage.

• What is Subsea7 doing in the energy transition? What is your role in offshore systems integration?

Our role is to support our clients to deliver the offshore energy solutions the world needs for today and tomorrow. By developing technology and providing services for offshore wind, CCS, green hydrogen, and energy storage.

Seaway7, part of the Subsea7 Group, has installed over 1,100 wind turbine generator foundations, 35 substations and over 2,600km of power cables in Europe, Asia and the USA. In addition to technology and services for fixed wind developments, the company has invested in floating wind technology and continue to develop cost-effective innovative solutions to make offshore floating wind possible.

In 2021, Equinor awarded Subsea7 a contract to participate in the development of Northern Lights, a Joint Venture between Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies, which studied pipeline transportation and permanent storage of CO₂ in a subsea North Sea reservoir. During this project, we laid a pipeline to store 1.5mt of CO₂ per year for the first phase development. We are also involved in several CCS related Joint Industry Projects led by DNV. Additionally, we are working on projects to better understand CO₂ supercritical flows and steel aging under related physico-chemical conditions.

We have also developed an innovative ecosystem of offshore hydrogen capabilities and technologies, and an active member of several industry forums and technology joint initiatives, notably with AquaVentus. We have conducted several studies for major industrial players and key suppliers and gained valuable expertise on offshore hydrogen production architectures and integrated offshore wind. We see the combination of the key building blocks of offshore wind, offshore hydrogen, energy storage, CCS and lower-carbon oil and gas, as an important step in making the energy transition possible. As a system integrator with significant experience, we are well-placed to contribute to the development and implementation of integrated energy systems.

• You have recently joined as a partner in the NSE programme. What were the main drivers to becoming an NSE partner and what are your expectations?

Collaboration is one of our Values and we believe that industry, public organisations and governments, need to work together with shared sustainability Values and ambition to meet net zero targets. It will take long-term planning, legislative and financial support from national and international bodies, research and technical developments to create a sustainable solution for the future energy demand. The Netherlands and other EU countries are taking a leading role in developing future energy solutions. NSE will play a major role in bringing together those elements, by creating a strong collaborative space for developers, operators, contractors and technology providers, and we want to be part of this journey. This will contribute to defining the right solutions, understanding and managing risk and ultimately developing the energy systems that will harness and maximise the output of the North Sea Energy resources.

• In which work packages will you participate? 

We want to be an active contributor across the North Sea Energy programme. As a global leader in the delivery of offshore projects including complex subsea infrastructures, our main contribution will be our core competencies and experience in designing subsea network architectures. In particular, the pipelines and subsea structures associated with subsea hydrogen gathering and export, and CCS. Therefore, as set out in the structure of the programme, we will be looking at the work performed in Work Package 1 – North Sea Energy Hubs Cluster - and also - Work Package 7’s Offshore Transition Scenarios and International Collaboration.

To enhance the participatory process, we interview NSE participants, representatives from politics, policy and administration, and stakeholders from the sector to share their vision on the role of the North Sea in the energy transition and the opportunities and challenges they see for system integration.