The new plant utilizes waste heat generated from the operation of offshore oil and gas drilling rigs to produce electricity, helping to reduce carbon emissions.
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has successfully delivered a 5 MW offshore waste heat power plant in Tianjin, a significant achievement that harnesses waste heat to generate energy, as reported by Interesting Engineering on August 16. The plant will operate within the development project of the Wenchang 9-7 oil field.
The world’s first offshore waste heat power plant with a capacity of 5 MW in Tianjin, northern China, on August 13. (Photo: CMG).
CNOOC stated that there has previously been no developed method to utilize waste heat from offshore emissions, either in China or globally. The new plant marks a significant technological breakthrough in offshore oil and gas extraction.
Typically, offshore drilling platforms are equipped with power generation stations that function as the “heart” of the rig by burning oil and gas to generate electricity. However, this process produces a substantial amount of waste heat, becoming one of the main sources of carbon emissions from offshore oil and gas activities. The new plant takes advantage of this waste heat as a thermal source, converting it into energy.
Compared to previous methods, the installation of the new plant can enhance the waste heat recovery capacity of the power generation station by 60 – 70%. The overall energy efficiency of the power station is expected to increase by 7%, thereby reducing the consumption of crude oil and natural gas at offshore oil and gas fields, according to An Weizheng, chief engineer of mechanical and electrical equipment at the Design and Engineering Research Institute of CNOOC.
Once operational, the annual electricity generation from the plant’s waste heat could reach 40 million kWh, sufficient to meet the annual needs of 30,000 households. The plant is also expected to save approximately 300 million cubic meters of natural gas over 20 years and reduce emissions by about 800,000 tons of CO2, equivalent to planting 7.5 million trees.