Technology Assessment News

Tanker vessels may face challenges calling California when new emissions regulations take effect, according to a new DNV report.The report, commissioned by Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), indicates tanker vessels and terminals in California could struggle to meet the 2020 amendments to California Air Resources Board's (CARB) Ocean-Going Vessels At-Berth Regulation. DNV's technology assessment looked at the feasibility of the current technologies developed around emissions…

Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, the UK's flagship technology innovation and research center for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, has launched a new industry-backed national technology accelerator program.The program is designed to support innovative SMEs to commercialize new technologies that will enhance the UK’s offshore wind supply chain, enabling greater UK content, whilst supporting cost reduction.The Launch Academy initiative will focus on near-to-market solutions and is supported by eight industrial and business support specialists including Red Rock Power, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), Barclays Eagle Labs, investment body Green Angel Syndicate, accountancy firm BDO, IP specialists Murgitroyd, law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn and ScottishPower Renewables.

The Vessel Technology Assessment System Project (VTAS Project) has finished its development stage and is set to go live.The UK-based design, engineering and risk management consultancy firm BMT, in collaboration with Black & Veatch, created VTAS for the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) in the UK. Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) is the advisor of the project.The VTAS Project ran from 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2019 and brought together the combined maritime and engineering consultancy expertise of BMT and Black & Veatch to inform the commercial maritime industry of the benefits of investing in and promoting fuel efficient technologies.The £1.8m initiative was funded by the ETI…

The U.K.’s Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has commissioned a £1.8 million ($2.5 million) project that aims to assist financiers to understand and quantify the benefits in investing in fuel efficient technologies for existing and future vessels. The Vessel Technology Assessment System (VTAS) project, which will develop a practical approach to predict the benefit of a range of carbon abatement/fuel efficiency technologies on marine vessels over real-world usage cycles, will be led by BMT and delivered in partnership with Black & Veatch.

DNV GL has published the first classification guideline for the use of additive manufacturing (AM) in the maritime and oil amid gas industries. The guideline is designed to help manufacturers and sub-suppliers of materials, parts and components, service suppliers and end users adopting AM technologies, by ensuring that the parts or components created by an AM process and the materials from which they are created have the same level of quality assurance as traditionally manufactured products.

An offshore wind project in the U.S. mid-Atlantic is moving forward, as project owner Dominion Energy Virginia has signed an agreement and strategic partnership with DONG Energy to build two 6-megawatt turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The two companies will now begin refining agreements for engineering, procurement and construction. Dominion Energy remains the sole owner of the project. Engineering and development work on the newly named Coastal Virginia Offshore…

Brian Salerno was sworn in as the Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) on August 26, 2013. He is responsible for promoting safety, protecting the environment and conserving resources through the vigorous regulatory oversight and enforcement of offshore operations on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. Prior to his appointment as Bureau Director, Salerno served as the U.S. Coast Guard’s Deputy Commandant for Operations where he was responsible for establishing and providing operational strategy…

ClassNK has appointed the Global Technology Assessment Center (GTAC) of TÜV Rheinland Japan as a certified laboratory at a ceremony held at GTAC in Yokohama. The appointment is in accordance with a worldwide partnership agreement signed in September 2015 that aims to see the two parties expand testing and certification services portfolio and better serve clients. ClassNK and TÜV Rheinland will share knowledge and experience to provide clients with more convenient equipment testing and certification services.

DNV GL Korea, the technical advisor to the oil and gas industry, has been awarded a technology qualification (TQ) contract with Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) for a FEED Package for a 5MTPA onshore LNG liquefaction plant based on the innovative KSMR liquefaction process. KSMR is a new natural gas liquefaction process and is for LNG plants and floating LNG due to its compactness. A pilot KSMR LNG liquefaction plant of 100 tonnes per day is being constructed by KOGAS to verify the operability and the efficiency at the Incheon LNG receiving terminal in Korea. KOGAS has invited DNV GL to perform a TQ in line with DNV GL’s Recommended Practice DNV-RP-A203.

President Obama requested  $204.7 million for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) in fiscal year 2016 as part of an effort to enable the BSEE to keep pace with deepwater oil and gas development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. According to the BSEE's Office of Public Affairs, there were 69 deepwater rigs and non-rig units working in the Gulf of Mexico at the end of 2014, up from 40 at the start of the year. The Energy Information Administration forecasts offshore production will continue to grow through 2040, as large development projects, predominantly in the deepwater and ultra-deepwater areas of the Gulf of Mexico, are brought into production.

"So we are here at OTC, surrounded by extraordinary displays of technology…showcasing capabilities that far exceed what was possible only a few short years ago, and underscoring the fact that the oil gas industry is one of the most innovative and complex on the planet. It is truly awe inspiring, and as a regulator, somewhat daunting to realize that this also poses a challenge for us (regulators). Your industry sets a very aggressive pace, you are the source of new ideas and technology. The challenge for those of us who are regulators is to keep pace with you, and to understand the safety and environmental implications of this technology, so that offshore resources can be developed without incident.

Scheduled for September 23-24, 2013 in Hamburg, the fourth STG Ship Efficiency conference will focus on one of the key issues for future shipping. The German Society for Maritime Technology, STG, launched this series of conferences to provide a platform for maritime leaders to exchange interdisciplinary ideas and expertise on questions related to ship efficiency. How to improve the efficiency of shipping operations. How to increase a ship’s profitability. How to make shipping more environmentally friendly.

Managing the risks associated with a new ship acquisition, whether commercial or military, can be a daunting process. For the commercial operator, the new ship must make a reasonable profit after the cost of design and the annual operating costs are accounted for. The warfighter must fit his new acquisition into ever-shrinking fiscal budgets while ensuring that a vital mission capability is met. Programmatic Risk – Will the selected hull form and associated requirements successfully meet the owner’s needs?

Dresser-Rand Group Inc. (NYSE: DRC) signed a definitive agreement to acquire Synchrony, Inc. The transaction is expected to close in January 2012. Synchrony is a technology development company with a portfolio of technologies and products including active magnetic bearings (AMB), high speed motors and generators, and power electronics for clean, efficient, and reliable rotating machinery. A private company founded in 1993, Synchrony is headquartered in Roanoke County, Virginia, where it develops, manufactures, and tests its products in an ISO 9001-certified facility which includes a best-in-class model shop  for rapid prototype fabrication and assembly.

The Interagency Alternative Technology Assessment Program workgroup, newly established by the National Incident Commander for the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, announced a new effort to collect and review oil spill response solutions from scientists and vendors. The Coast Guard’s Research and Development Center, in collaboration with interagency partners, issued a Broad Agency Announcement on www.FedBizOpps.gov, calling for the submission of white papers that cover: oil sensing improvements to response and detection; oil wellhead control and submerged oil response; traditional oil spill response technologies; alternative oil spill response technologies; and oil spill damage assessment and restoration.

The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) recently funded four research studies to identify technological and operational safety issues related to the future development of offshore renewable energy on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The studies focus on inspection methodologies and design characteristics of offshore wind turbines, installation and removal costs of ocean energy devices, and potential seafloor effects associated with the installation of renewable energy devices. “We still have much to learn about offshore renewable energy activities”, said MMS Director Liz Birnbaum. “We are continuously evaluating existing regulations and standards to adapt to these new technologies.

MMS may award a total of between $500,000 to $900,000 towards new operational safety and engineering (OSER) research proposals for 2005. As part of the agency’s responsibilities to regulate the offshore oil and gas industry, the Technology Assessment and Research Program (TA&R) funds research into operational safety, pollution prevention, and oil spill response and cleanup capabilities. The TA&R Program operates through contracts with universities, private firms, and government laboratories to assess safety-related technologies and to perform necessary applied research. New challenges and informational needs arise as technology changes or as operations expand into new or different environments such as the deep water areas of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).