Illustration of the subsea control module.

Optime Subsea has been selected to deliver a new subsea power control module to ABB. Started in 2013, ABB formed a joint industry project (JIP) with three oil companies. The JIP aims to develop transmission, distribution and power conversion systems for subsea pumps and gas compressors, operating at depths of 3,000 m and over vast distances. The development is part of the industry-wide objective to develop all-electric subsea processing facilities. For the JIP, Optime Subsea has been selected to design, fabricate and qualify a subsea control module (SCM) hosting ABBs subsea control hardware.

The first full-scale prototype of a subsea variable speed drive was successfully tested in a sheltered harbor in Vaasa, Finland in 2017. The JIP is now preparing for a 3,000-hour shallow-water test of a subsea power system with two variable speed drives in parallel, combined with subsea switchgear and controls, targeted to start in spring 2019. The first installation of the new subsea power systems in offshore production sites are expected to begin in 2020. —Optime Subsea AS