Santos, as one of Australia’s leading Oil & Gas companies, operates Oil & Gas facilities in some of the harshest climates and conditions possible. In the far South West corner of Queensland sits a remote oil field, which requires reliable power, 24/7.
A central power-house provides power to hundreds of linear rod pumps, connected via approximately 100 km of HV powerlines. The cycling of these pumps, amplified over the total number operating, creates an extremely variable electrical load profile. Traditionally, this power was generated by a large gas turbine, which through its size and inertia was able to support the highly variable load, albeit inefficiently. Loads can peak and trough over 250 kW every six to eight seconds.
As the existing power generation assets were coming to end of life, Santos looked to the market for a more efficient solution, which ideally would include renewables as part of the solution, as the company seeks to reduce its emissions related to production.
Optimal designed a solution which met the objectives outlined by Santos and their consultants, GPA. Our solution delivered in the order of a 50% reduction in fuel and emissions for this facility.