Page 178 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΜΑΙΟΣ 2023

ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES

energy production, and the shift to hydrogen same time, with its extensive gas grid, the UK
in the future are some of the factors caus- finds itself in a fantastic position to switch from
ing increased demand in the broader region natural gas to hydrogen.
and the need for new gas transit and trans-
port infrastructures. As already known, there FLOATING NUCLEAR POWER
is a floating station for Liquefied Natural Gas CONSORTIUM TAKES SHAPE
(FSRU) in Alexandroupolis, and the prospect Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), Samsung
of installing four others in Corinth, Volos, and Heavy Industries (SHI) and Seaborg Technolo-
Thessaloniki and one more in Alexandroupo- gies have announced a consortium to develop
lis, which will be mainly for export purposes, floating nuclear power plants with Seaborg
is being explored. In addition, all new infra- Technologies’ innovative molten salt reactor
structures built by DESFA have the potential technology. The power plants will be installed
to transport hydrogen. on barges with a modular design able to deliver
from 200MWe to 800MWe, with the consor-
HYDROGEN PIPELINES STARTING TO tium’s first project expected to be a 200MWe
MATERIALISE IN EUROPE power barge.
New hydrogen infrastructure is starting to The consortium aims to enable timely commer-
materialise as the world seeks to acceler- cialisation and a scalable export of factory-pro-
ate its path to net zero. However, there are duced CMSR-based floating nuclear power
few shortcuts to a sustainable future, and plants worldwide, offering improved efficiency
switching existing oil and gas infrastructure to and inherent safety characteristics. With KHNP’s
hydrogen is not always viable. At the heart of extensive experience in nuclear power genera-
this challenge is physics: hydrogen has a high tion, SHI’s offshore construction expertise and
gravimetric energy density and a low volumet- Seaborg Technologies’ innovative technology,
ric energy density. That means that between the consortium is well-positioned to meet the
hydrogen pipelines and ships, the former will growing demand for clean and reliable energy.
be a far better option for moving hydrogen over The agreement marks a significant worldwide
short to medium distances. milestone for floating nuclear solutions: each
Today, there are already over 4,300 kilometres 200MWe of generation capacity is expected
of pipelines for hydrogen transportation, with to save over 26 million tons of carbon dioxide
over 90% located in Europe and North Amer- emissions over its 24-year lifetime compared
ica. Rystad Energy estimates that there are with a coal-fired power plant.
about 91 planned pipeline projects worldwide,
totalling 30,300 kilometres and due to come BP STARTS OIL PRODUCTION AT
online by around 2035. ARGOS PLATFORM IN THE GULF OF
In cases where hydrogen will be shipped (as MEXICO
hydrogen or its derivatives), it will eventually be BP has successfully started oil production at its
distributed on land using hydrogen pipelines, Argos offshore platform, delivering more energy
which makes transport via pipelines a critical at a critical time and strengthening BP’s posi-
transportation mode for the gas. Hydrogen tion as a leading producer in the deepwater US
pipelines are already used to supply industrial Gulf of Mexico.
hubs (at petrochemical plants, for example). With a gross production capacity of up to
As supply scales up and moves from areas with 140,000 barrels of oil per day, Argos is BP’s fifth
abundant and renewable energy to demand platform in the Gulf of Mexico and the first new
centres, long transmission lines will be a neces- BP-operated production facility in the region
sity, and these pipelines would require larger since 2008. The semi-submersible platform
diameters and higher pressure for cost-effec- will ultimately increase BP’s gross operated
tiveness and, consequently, higher steel grades production capacity in the Gulf of Mexico by
Globally, Europe is at the forefront of efforts an estimated 20%. BP expects to safely and
to produce and import green hydrogen and is systematically ramp up production from Argos
now turning its attention to building the neces- through 2023.
sary infrastructure to get it to demand centres. Argos is the centerpiece of BP’s Mad Dog Phase
According to Rystad Energy research, Spain, 2 project, which extends the life of the super-gi-
France, and Germany are among the coun- ant oil field discovered in 1998. It is one of nine
tries committed to or considering cross-bor- high-margin major projects that BP plans start
der pipelines to facilitate energy flows. At the up by the end of 2025 globally.

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