On mission to decarbonise FPSO ops, SBM Offshore and MHI offer CO2 capture solution

Dutch FPSO operator SBM Offshore has joined forces with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) to offer a CO₂ capture solution for floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels while they produce oil and gas from offshore reservoirs. This is being undertaken to curb the carbon footprint of FPSO operations.

With the demand for decarbonisation of FPSO operations on the rise and expected to continue increasing rapidly, the companies aim to open the door to offshore CO2 capture and storage development with this partnership agreement, making a contribution to carbon neutrality efforts.

The CO2 capture solution is being developed as part of the SBM Offshore’s emissionZERO programme and is based on a combination of MHI’s proprietary CO2 capture technology and the Dutch player’s Fast4ward principles. The agreement to offer this solution follows an engineering and design study between the duo, which demonstrated the technical feasibility and commercial readiness of CO2 capture technology offshore.

Olivier Icyk, Managing Director of Floating Production Solutions at SBM Offshore, commented: “The signing of this partnership agreement marks a key development within our emissionZERO programme, whose goal is to provide FPSOs with near-zero emissions.

“The technology, which we are now able to offer clients, is an essential solution to substantially reduce the carbon footprint of our FPSOs. We are pleased to partner up with MHI, a top player whose carbon capture technology perfectly complements our leading experience in floating energy solutions.”

Furthermore, the CO2 capture solution will apply MHI’s proprietary Advanced KM CDR Process technology – jointly developed with the Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. – which enables significant greenhouse gas emission reductions from FPSOs by capturing CO2 from onboard gas turbines.

Kenji Terasawa, CEO and Head of Engineering Solutions at MHI, remarked: “Combining proven technologies of both companies will be an important step towards decarbonisation of offshore greenhouse gas emissions from FPSOs. With this agreement, we will accelerate the offshore carbon capture business in order to achieve a carbon-neutral society.”

According to SBM Offshore, the CO2 capture technology is estimated to have the potential to reduce CO2 emissions from overall FPSO operations by up to 70 per cent.

SBM Offshore has put its back into several FPSO projects this year. Two of these remain on schedule to achieve the first oil by the end of 2023. One of these vessels is destined to work in Guyana and the other one in Brazil.

After all three floaters constructed for the Provence Grand Large pilot project were loaded out from the yard at Fos-sur-mer and launched in the water, the integration of the three turbines with a capacity of 8.4 MW each by Siemens-Gamesa was progressing in August 2023 and was expected to be followed by the offshore installation campaign of the floaters by SBM Offshore.