Power, Propulsion System orders for deep water drill ships won by ABB

ABB won marine orders worth $35 million to provide power, propulsion, drive systems to provide top operating reliability, efficiency for new deep sea drill ships

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ABB, a leading power and automation technology group, won orders collectively worth $35 million to provide complete power systems, drilling drive and propulsion systems for two new deep water drill ships to be built by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) at its shipyard in South Korea. The end customers are Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás and Delba Drilling BV, who will operate the drilling rigs for Petrobras. The orders were booked in the third quarter. The rigs are scheduled to be commissioned by mid-2012.

ABB’s scope of supply includes complete electrical systems for the drill ships, used for oil and gas exploration drilling. The delivery for each rig includes power generation and the high and low voltage distribution systems, the drilling drive systems, the propulsion drive systems, as well as related engineering services.

This comprehensive solution will reportedly help the rigs operate more safely as well as maximize onboard equipment reliability, efficiency and availability, while securing a stable supply of power throughout all rig systems. ABB has delivered similar systems to 28 other drilling vessels built by SHI.

“ABB’s resident marine, oil and gas industry expertise, global and local resources, and proven track record of delivering advanced, reliable solutions for our marine customers were important factors in winning these orders,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “Our continued collaboration with Samsung Heavy Industries underscores the effectiveness of ABB’s core concept of simplicity as a driver in the design, commissioning and operation phases for our marine customers.”

The solution for this project uses proven ABB components that make it simple to build up redundant parallel electrical systems, including generators, electric distribution systems, thruster drives, auxiliary systems and drilling systems. This allegedly allows for safe operation of the vessel with a system designed for maximum tolerance to single failures. Connections between each sub-system are purportedly kept to a minimum, and as simple as possible, to ease fault analysis, monitoring and repair.

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