ABB will deliver electrical system automation for the FPSO’s upper module and hull. The FPSO will be deployed in ultra-deepwater fields off the coast of Brazil and will be one of the largest FPsos in the country
Electrical systems for the upper modules will be installed in the ABB pre-installed Electrical room (eHouse). All systems are wired, tested and adjusted prior to shipment, thus reducing risk exposure and construction costs
The FPSO will have an oil production capacity of 225,000 barrels per day, be able to process 12m cubic metres of gas and integrate carbon capture and storage technology

ABB recently won an order from Sembcorp Marine Ltd to provide a complete electrical system automation solution for Brazilian oil and gas producer Petrobras’ floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility. Sembcorp Marine is a global provider of innovative engineering solutions for the offshore, Marine and energy industries, headquartered in Singapore.

When completed, the P-82 FPSO will be one of the largest processing units in Brazil. It will be deployed in the Buzios oil and gas field. The ultra-deepwater oil and gas field covers an area of 853 square kilometers in the Santos Basin, about 180 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

ABB is responsible for providing electrical systems and seamless project integration for the upper and hull modules of the P-82 FPSO. Electrical systems for the upper modules will be installed in the ABB pre-installed Electrical room (eHouse). This prefabricated modular substation helps reduce construction costs, risk exposure and field workload as all components are wired, tested and adjusted before shipping to the shipyard.

ABB DI04

ABB DI04

ABB DI04

Once operational, the FPSO can receive a mixture of oil and gas from subsea fields, which can then be separated into crude oil, gas and water in an upper module. When completed, the FPSO will have the capacity to produce 225,000 barrels of crude oil per day and process 12 million cubic meters of natural gas.

“We are pleased to work with Sembcorp Marine to deliver this integrated solution order,” said Brandon Spencer, ABB’s global President of Energy Industries. “We have a strong track record in electrical and automation solutions for FPSOS in Brazil and globally. This project is in line with our commitment to help our energy infrastructure reduce its carbon footprint, balancing the need for an energy transition with growing consumer demand, especially for developing economies.”

Petrobras plans to deploy 18 FPsos off Brazil in the next four years, accounting for nearly half of the world’s total. The P-82, the first of these new generation of FPsos, features high-capacity, low-emission solutions such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies. The FPSO vessels are expected to have a combined capacity of about 2.8 million barrels a day.

An ABB report in 2022 showed that electrification, automation and digitisation could dramatically reduce the staffing required to operate FPsos, cutting annual carbon emissions by up to 320,000 tonnes per field, equivalent to taking 160,000 passenger cars off the road.

According to an Insight Partners report published in November 2022, the global FPSO market was valued at $12 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $20 billion by 2027.