OPTIMIZING THE USAGE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR POWERING OFFSHORE OIL FIELDS

Olalere Nurudeen Abimbola

Olalere Nurudeen Abimbola Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Newcastle University, United Kingdom

Keywords: Renewable Energy, Offshore Oil Field, Climate Change, CO2 Emission, Carbon Tax

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission due to power generation from fossil fuel is a major contributor to the current issues of global warming and climate change. This paper proposes offshore generation of electricity from renewables to supply offshore oil fields. An existing oil field in the UK North Sea was assumed and a hybrid power system consisting of power from wind, wave, and fossil fuel generators was dedicated to it. The feasible/economical reduction in CO₂ emission was investigated by using Homer Pro software to model and simulate performance of the micro-grid. Data of the renewable resources are specific to the selected site. From the simulation results, a solution with the lowest net present cost (winning system) was chosen and compared with the base case system to observe how the hybrid system saves cost over the project lifetime. The winning system was refined as much as possible to develop the optimal system which was proposed for implementation. This system demonstrated its economics relative to the base case system as the annual fuel consumption and the corresponding CO₂ emission dropped by 38% each. Likewise, the cost of energy fell by 42%. Imposition of carbon tax was recommended to boost the development of renewables.