ABB, Equinor collaborate on digital integration of offshore assets

ABB reported May 26 that it's started a pilot project with Equinor in Stvanger, Norway, to implement digital and remote condition monitoring of critical electrical systems at the Gina Krog platform in the North Sea. The project will digitally transform monitoring of critical electrical systems on the platform, accelerating Equinor’s condition monitoring capabilities with a focus on improving safety, reducing operational costs and increasing production efficiency.

Adopting collaborative maintenance model lets Equinor transition from planned maintenance to prescriptive maintenance. Data is transferred from the platform’s power management system and electrical condition monitoring system to Equinor’s Omnia Microsoft Azure cloud platform, using an onsite ABB EdgeInsight data pump. From there, live data is securely streamed to ABB’s own Microsoft Azure cloud where a dedicated team uses the data to continuously improve condition monitoring and tools to be used by the ABB Reliability Service team. By streaming data directly to ABB, Equinor securely transports high-level data from assets that will deliver transparency on performance, better predictability and process optimization.

“By collaborating with Equinor, we'll make sure they have real-time electrical equipment health visibility," says Per Erik Holsten, head of energy industries for Northern Europe at ABB. "In addition, we're contributing to meeting reliability performance targets and reducing the cost of interruptions.”

As the pilot progresses, ABB will take over day-to-day condition monitoring operations for the critical electrical equipment, which will be managed offsite by the reliability service team. This will be done in close cooperation with Gina Krog personnel and Equinor’s Integrated Operations Center (IOC). ABB engineers will work inside Equinor’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, helping generate notifications.

“This project and our collaboration lets us use operations data in a much leaner and faster way," adds Bernt Tysseland, VP of operations at Equinor. "By allowing ABB’s experts to work digitally with Equinor personnel, we can improve safety and reduce maintenance administration hours."