Offshore staff
LONDON — Engineering consultancy Houlder has formed a collaboration with Athens-based Blue Sea Power to develop three floating LNG-to-power barges (FSRPs).
All are due to be operational by 2025 and will supply baseload and peak power to the Greek islands of Kos, Chios and Lesvos.
The power will be used when existing renewable solar and wind energy facilities reach their technical limits. The barges will replace existing diesel and heavy fuel oil power generation infrastructure, and should comply with the EU Taxonomy and new Greek Climate legislation.
For the current phase, Houlder will take the barge designs to a level that will achieve approval in principle by Lloyd’s Register and will support Blue Sea Power with the design package for securing tenders from shipyards.
Previously, Houlder completed studies on the main power generation engine arrangement, cargo containment, design standardization, emissions reduction and efficiency options, and capex, along with a study examining the impact on seawater temperature and noise.
To meet EU emissions requirements, the barges must generate power efficiently, within a limit for new power plants in Greece of 270 g of CO2 per e/kWh or a 20-year average of 550kgCO2/kWh.
Planned innovations to improve efficiency include maximizing waste heat recovery from the exhaust and using waste heat recovery from the engine’s cooling water system for freshwater generation for export.
In addition, the barges should maximize cold energy recovery from the LNG evaporation and use variable frequency drives to improve efficiency of motors onboard.
Finally, the partners plan to install a cryogenic carbon capture system onboard the power barges. The engines will be hydrogen production blend-ready as the technology to enable this matures, with scope to blend bio-LNG and renewable synthetic e-LNG into the supply chain to further reduce emissions.
01.17.2023
