Equinor Picks OneSubsea All-Electric Subsea Production System for North Sea Field

SLB OneSubsea’s all-electric tree design that will be installed at the FramSør project (Credit: SLB)

OneSubsea, a joint venture formed by SLB, Aker Solutions and Subsea7, has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by Equinor for a 12-well, all-electric Subsea Production System (SPS) in the Fram Sør field, offshore Norway.

The award follows a collaborative, year-long Front-End Engineering Design phase, where Equinor and OneSubsea jointly matured the project, culminating in the development plan and final investment decision (FID).

As part of the resulting EPC scope, OneSubsea will deliver four subsea templates and 12 all-electric subsea trees, eliminating the need for hydraulic fluid supplied by the host platform and keeping topside modifications to a minimum.

This approach is expected to unlock a cost-effective solution for the project while retaining topside space for additional, future expansion projects in the area.

The project will be developed as a subsea tieback to the host platform Troll C in the North Sea, contributing to the security of energy supply from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) to Europe.

Benefitting from a host that is powered from Norwegian shores, the production from Fram Sør will have very low emissions.

“Fram Sør is a breakthrough project for our industry, marking the first large-scale all-electric subsea production system. Not only do all-electric subsea solutions significantly reduce topside needs to make large-scale tiebacks such as the Fram Sør development possible, but they also hold the key to unlock more marginal resources through their reduced footprint and simplified operations,” said Mads Hjelmeland, chief executive officer of SLB OneSubsea.

The contract is subject to regulatory approval of the plan for development and operations (PDO).