Innovative Hybrid Energy System for stable Power and Heat Supply in offshore oil and gas Installation (HES-OFF): System Design and Grid Stability

This paper presents an innovative hybrid energy system for stable power and heat supply in offshore oil & gas installations (HES-OFF). The hybrid concept integrates offshore wind power with gas turbines and a H2 energy storage solution based on proton exchange membrane fuel cells and electrolysers. The objectives are: 1) improve the environmental performance of offshore installations by maximizing the exploitation of offshore wind and partially decarbonizing the gas turbines by co-feeding H2; 2) minimize the negative effects that wind power variability has on the electrical grid frequency stability. This study presents a first assessment of the HES-OFF concept performance using an offshore platform in the North Sea as case study. The results show that the HES-OFF concept: 1) cuts CO2 emissions up to 40 % when compared to the reference case but requires large H2 storage capacity to fully exploit wind power throughout the year; 2) allows higher wind power penetration without infringing on the grid frequency requirements.