Chevron advances Jansz-Io compression project with $120 million order

Aug. 19, 2021
Chevron Australia Pty Ltd. and Aker Solutions have let contracts to ABB to provide power from shore and subsea long step-out to Jansz-Io field.

Chevron Australia Pty Ltd. and Aker Solutions have let contracts to ABB to provide power from shore and subsea long step-out to Jansz-Io field.  

The order, worth about $120 million, is for supply of the overall electrical power system (EPS) for the multi-billion-dollar Jansz-Io compression (J-IC) project, which moves gas from the deep seas to shore.  Chevron took FID on the project in July (OGJ Online, July 2, 2021).

Jansz-Io lies about 200 km off the northwestern coast of Australia in the Carnarvon basin at water depths of about 1,400 m. The field is part of the Chevron-operated Gorgon natural gas project.

The project includes construction and installation of a 27,000-tonne (topside and hull) normally unattended floating field control station (FCS), about 6,500 tonnes of subsea compression infrastructure, and a 135-km submarine power cable linked to Barrow Island. 

ABB will provide most of the electrical equipment, both topside and subsea, for J-IC. The project will combine two ABB technologies—power from shore and variable speed drive (VSD) long step-out subsea power—for the first time, the service provider said in an Aug. 19 statement. The electrical system will be able to transmit 100 megavolt-amperes over a distance of about 140 km and at depths of 1,400 m.

The contract was awarded following concept development and a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study (OGJ Online, Mar. 14, 2019). Work will begin immediately. The subsea compression system is expected to be in operation in 2025.

The technology “significantly reduces power consumption and emissions compared to power generated offshore by local gas turbines and compressors located topside,” said Brandon Spencer, president, energy industries at ABB. “Subsea compressors are key to helping improve reservoir recoverability and ensuring optimal use of resources from existing fields,” he continued.