Neptune Developing New Digital Twins

Neptune Energy announced Thursday the development of new digital twins of two platforms in the Dutch North Sea.

3D technology specialist Eserv is creating digitized versions of the L10-A complex’s drilling and production platforms where a “large-scale” offshore carbon capture and storage project is planned, Neptune Energy revealed. The latest project follows the development of five digital twins of Neptune-operated platforms in the UK, Norway and elsewhere in the Dutch sector, the company highlighted.

Neptune Energy outlined that the digital twins will accelerate work schedules and reduce costs and environmental impacts by enabling engineers to work onshore. They will also support planning of Neptune’s major carbon capture and storage project in the L10 area, Neptune Energy noted.

“These two new additions will allow us to maximize those benefits while also expanding the use of ‘digital twins’ beyond our traditional exploration and production activities,” Neptune Energy’s chief information officer, Kaveh Pourteymour, said in a company statement.

“We believe their implementation can help accelerate our drive to repurpose existing facilities to deliver large-scale CCS facilities,” Pourteymour added in the statement.

Lex de Groot, the managing director of Neptune Energy in the Netherlands, said, “as the largest offshore gas producer in the Dutch sector of the North Sea, we are well-positioned to help the Netherlands achieve its climate goals by repurposing existing assets for CO2 storage or green hydrogen production”.

“Embedding modern technologies in this way ensures we can plan work, inspect plant equipment and monitor changes in the physical structure, or identify potential issues early and accurately, increasing our chance of success and enabling us to deliver against much shorter timescales,” de Groot added.

Back in July, Neptune Energy announced the digitization of its portfolio of subsea wells in Norway using a data visualization platform based on 3D gaming technology. In June, the company announced the digitization of five of its operated offshore platforms in the Dutch, Norwegian and UK North Sea. This will enable approximately 90 site inspections each year to be carried out from onshore, accelerating work schedules, reducing costs and cutting carbon emissions associated with offshore travel, Neptune Energy noted in a company statement at the time.

Neptune Energy was set up in 2015 by its executive chairman and founder Sam Laidlaw with private equity investors. The company has a diverse, gas-weighted portfolio, its website highlights.

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