Woodside gas platform to get battery system

Zurich-based automation specialist ABB has been contracted by Australian LNG company Woodside to provide a battery storage system that is capable of remote management of operations and service.

The system will be installed on the Goodwyn A offshore production platform that supplies gas and condensate to the Karratha gas and LNG plant, part of the North West Shelf project.

The platform is located about 135 km northwest of Karratha in Western Australia and has been operating since 1995.

Dry gas and condensate from surrounding reservoirs is transported via a network of pipelines to Goodwyn A.

Goodwyn A is designed for up to 30 production wells, including five re-injection wells, and has a daily production capacity of up to 36,000 tons of gas and 11,000 tons of condensate.

ABB’s containerized, plug-and-play ABB Ability PowerStore battery storage system will support Goodwyn A’s existing gas turbine generators, according to a statement by ABB.

The battery will replace one of the six existing gas turbine generators and will also reduce the need for using the emergency diesel generator.

Short term backup will be provided via the new battery energy storage system incorporated within the microgrid, to provide a ‘spinning reserve’.

A dedicated ABB Ability Microgrid Plus control system will act as the brain of the solution and it will also be possible to remotely operate the microgrid if the need arises or the platform has to be de-manned for any reason, ABB said.

“We are pleased to partner with Woodside on pioneering a PowerStore Battery energy solution for offshore oil and gas, which will reduce environmental impact and optimize costs,” said Massimo Danieli, head of ABB’s Grid Automation business within the company’s Power Grids division.