Goliat, Norway

The Goliat oil and gas field, 105 km off the northern coast of Norway, was discovered in 2000 and is operated by Eni Norge. The production of oil and gas from a FPSO (floating, production, storage and offloading) platform started in 2016.

The platform is electrified with power-from-shore. This enables Eni Norge to use renewable hydro power from the Norwegian power grid and to cut the platform’s CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions by half. It is important to take into account that the Barents Sea area is officially seen as environmentally sensitive.

Power-from-shore is, for several reasons, more advantageous than the conventional alternative of gas turbines. First, gas turbines consume large volumes of gas that could otherwise be sold.

Second, gas turbines have significant and costly space and weight requirements and demand regular maintenance.

And finally, the gas turbines produce large quantities of CO2 emissions.

Our solution includes innovative cable system design and engineering, qualification testing and manufacturing, cable-laying and installation. This includes challenging trenching and rock dumping in a rough environment, as well as the successful commissioning.

The high-voltage cable system connects the Goliat platform to the onshore power grid via a three-core static AC cable that runs 105 km along the seabed. A 1.5 km dynamic AC cable connects the platform to the static AC cable, 350 meters below the surface.

We extend technical boundaries with this dynamic AC power-from-shore cable system. The 75 MW rating of the cable allows for an increase in energy supply if Eni Norge one day would want to power additional fields from the same system. The dynamic cable section, which weighs 90 kg per meter and hangs in the water between the platform and the seabed, withstands severe mechanical stress from currents, waves and the continuous movement of the platform.

An important feature of our solution is the innovative corrugated copper sheath that is designed to operate for the full production lifetime of the Goliat field in the extreme, high-stress conditions.

NKT’s high-voltage XLPE submarine cables have low electrical losses. They are resistant to solvents, oil and abrasions, and have an excellent tensile strength. Our technology is truly ideal for harsh marine environments.