Subsea technology thriving in Oslo area

Preben Strøm.(Courtesy Subsea Valley)

Offshore: When was Subsea Valley formed, and can you explain its present relationship with other engineering and R&D groups in Norway?

Strøm: The term “Engineering Valley” was first coined in the 1980s, referring to the comprehensive engineering competence to be found in the greater Oslo area. As this competence started to take the lead in the emerging global subsea revolution in the mid-’90s, the designation “Subsea Valley” emerged. In 2010, it was established as a formal network organization, and in November 2013, it was recognized as an early-stage cluster within the Norwegian Innovation Clusters program. Last year, Subsea Valley was appointed a “Norwegian Centre of Expertise” within the same program, reflecting the cluster’s enhanced maturity and established national role.

Clusters are seen as a means of achieving the Norwegian authorities’ objectives in the areas of innovation, technology development, and value creation. Innovation Norway, SIVA, and the Research Council of Norway are the primary state agencies in this field and they also manage the Norwegian Innovation Clusters program. Therefore, Subsea Valley works closely with these three state bodies, both through the overarching cluster program and on individual projects.

Offshore: Are there certain individuals or companies in particular that steer the direction of Subsea Valley’s various programs and projects?

Strøm: Influence is primarily based on the level of engagement and the interest that various members, both at company and individual level, take in the cluster and its activities. Having said that, Subsea Valley is in many ways a reflection of what is going on in the energy industry in Norway and abroad, and the companies within the cluster that set the tone on this stage will naturally also have an impact on Subsea Valley and its future direction.

Location of the Subsea Valley cluster companies in eastern Norway.(Courtesy Subsea Valley)

Offshore: Much of the members’ business seems to come from other sectors, so what percentage of the various programs and initiatives are offshore – or even subsea – related?

Strøm: Although we have a strong foundation in oil and gas (O&G), about 5% of our members’ revenues come from renewables and 25% from other sectors. In terms of our concrete projects and initiatives, many are about facilitating co-operation and innovation, which is not limited to O&G per se. The best way to describe both our member mass and our project portfolio would be “energy technology with a foundation in world leading subsea engineering and technology.”

Offshore: In terms of the breadth and variety of offshore expertise, how does the Oslo area compare with other R&D centers in Norway?

Strøm: The regional Norwegian offshore-related industry is quite complementary. In Bergen you have a strong inspection and maintenance sector. Stavanger is very advanced when it comes to field operations and production, while key players in well and drilling are located in Kristiansand. In the Oslo area we are traditionally very strong on engineering, in particular in the area of subsea. However, as digitalization and the push for energy transition bring more disciplines into the O&G and energy industries, the Oslo area is benefitting from its overall high level of highly skilled professionals, in particular in the area of software engineering.

Omnirise SP booster.

(Courtesy FSubsea)

Offshore: Does a member company have to have a base within a certain radius of the capital, or could it be situated elsewhere in Norway or another country?

Strøm: The vast majority of our members have a presence in the greater Oslo region, but we also welcome members and partners outside of this area whose competencies and focus are in line with those of Subsea Valley. For example, Oceaneering, whose Norway office is located in Stavanger, is a member, and NTNU - the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim - has a seat on the Subsea Valley board.

Offshore: Do all the top mid-size to large contractors, oil companies, and research institutes in the area work with Subsea Valley?

Strøm: Yes, very much so, either as members of the organization or as partners. In addition, we incorporate the majority of the relevant SMEs and start-up arenas in the region, as well as key finance institutions. Subsea Valley can only achieve its full potential if we engage all the different kinds of players of relevance to the energy industry. We arrange a variety of get-togethers and meetings with different purposes, encompassing workshops for collaborative projects, large networking gatherings, delegation trips to key events such as OTC and ONS, and matchmaking sessions between concrete players, to mention a few. However, the overall objective of all these initiatives is to promote co-operation and synergies, and thereby innovation, value creation, and enhanced competitiveness.

Offshore: How does Subsea Valley work with counterpart organizations in other countries, and what are the typical end-products?

Strøm: Up until now, our international efforts have been focused on cluster to cluster co-operation, working with selected cluster organizations abroad, for example, Offshoreenergy.dk in Denmark and Aerospace Valley in France. The co-operation involves collaboration on EU projects as well as joint initiatives for technology and competence transfer. However, we are now in the process of recruiting an EU advisor, and with this function in place, the organization will take on more of an international facilitator role. Among other things, the EU advisor will facilitate both member companies’ and Subsea Valley’s participation in international collaboration projects and in relevant European arenas.

Offshore: Can you provide more details on the SME Digital Transformation program and the targets of the different companies involved?

Strøm: The overall goal of the SME Digital Transformation project is to promote structured collaboration in the development and use of digital platforms, so as to ensure optimal exploitation of the cost-saving and efficiency potential these platforms carry. More specifically, the program aims to:

• Accelerate digital understanding in the SME-segment and to identify new opportunities for communication between SMEs, system integrators, and operators

• Explore standards for sharing, exchange, and storage of data and develop new solutions for direct sharing of data and documents.

The project is of a five-year duration and is implemented in close co-operation with some of the largest companies and most influential digital players in Subsea Valley, such as DNV GL, Aker Solutions, Equinor, Cognite, Kongsberg Digital, and Sintef Digital, all of which are developing digital platforms for new digital services.

Offshore: What is the position regarding Subsea Valley and Techstars, the ‘accelerator’ program designed to support entrepreneurial companies commercialize their technologies?

Strøm: Techstars Energy, the first Techstars program within the field of energy and in the Nordic countries, has been recently established at Fornebu in the Oslo region. The global tech accelerator Techstars are extremely particular about the programs they allow to become part of the Techstars network and where these programs are to be located. Hence, getting Techstars to Norway was a long process. Subsea Valley has been supporting this process actively and is very pleased that the Oslo area as an established subsea and energy hub proved to be one of the key pull factors bringing Techstars to Norway.

Offshore: And what is Subsea Valley’s connection with the NCE Energy Technology development project?

Strøm: NCE Energy Technology, which stands for “Norwegian Centre of Expertise Energy Technology,” is the name of the project based on which Subsea Valley received its National Centre of Expertise status. The project represents a shift from Subsea Valley as a pure O&G/subsea focused organization to an organization concerned with energy technology more broadly, however still with a very strong subsea component.

Offshore: Can you provide details of specific offshore/subsea technologies that have either been developed or are emerging as a result of collaborations between your member companies?

Strøm: In general, the companies in the cluster develop and work closely together on many of the same projects, big and small. Moreover, some of our members, like Optime Subsea, strive to always use local and regional suppliers to the extent possible in their work. In terms of concrete examples, the joint industry project (JIP) between FSubsea [formerly Fuglesangs Subsea], Lundin, Equinor, Aker BP, National Oilwell Varco, OMV (Norge), and ConocoPhillips to develop a new revolutionary subsea pump system, “Omnirise,” is an excellent illustration. The system uses magnetism rather than traditional shaft seals lubricated by hydraulic fluids and replaces bulky and costly variable-speed drives with a simple, non-contact hydrodynamic gear. This will lead to significant improvements in terms cost, weight, and reliability. Rystad Energy has estimated that Omnirise can provide savings of NOK150 million [$18.12 million] in capex alone on a single-well boosting installation, compared to conventional boosting systems. In 2017, FSubsea won the Spotlight on New Technology Award at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, and the system is expected to come on the market in 2019. The project had its origins in Subsea Valley, as it all started as an initiative between FSubsea and Lundin. The way the consortium looks today, four of the JIP companies, Equinor, FSubsea, Lundin, and Aker BP are located in Subsea Valley, and the project is still managed from FSubsea’s offices in Oslo. •