Oil and gas operators are developing subsea production systems at greater and greater distances from theirrespective hosts in deepwater basins worldwide. Many of these subsea systems have the potential toinclude subsea boosting systems (pumping and/or compression) in these installations, which presents theneed for significant amounts of AC power to be delivered over these increasing distances. Recentexperience and subsequent investigation has shown that the required AC power can be deliveredefficiently and cost effectively to these installations via an innovative system approach involving a splitof the major components of a typical Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) system, locating the AC/DCconversion equipment at the host facility where power is generated, locating the DC/AC conversionequipment on the seabed, in proximity to the subsea boosting equipment, and connecting the two via a DCtransmission cable.Through utilization of DC power transmission, we expect to eliminate the reactive power issues andline harmonics issues associated with AC transmission. Innovational approaches such as this one willmake these installations more practical and cost effective, and open the door to even further capability.
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