Learning and development from the world's first operating subsea compression system
After years of development, qualification and engineering, subsea compression technology is now a proven solution to increase the recovery factor for offshore gas developments. The first subsea compression system was installed at the Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea, which started up successfully on 17 September 2015. This represents an important milestone for the oil and gas industry because, apart from representing the successful development of new subsea processing technologies, subsea compression also proves itself a viable alternative field development option to oil and gas operators. This paper shares the experiences of Aker Solutions on the Åsgard subsea compression project, from the design and the project execution phases up to the operational phase, highlighting key learnings. In addition, the paper outlines the ongoing development activities to optimise the compression system delivered for Åsgard, with particular focus on unit size and weight optimisation without requiring any qualification activities of new technologies. This new-generation subsea compression system will extend the applicability of this technology to a much wider range of fields and offshore regions.