11 May 2021 12:18 GMT Updated 11 May 2021 14:32 GMT
The Canadian government is backing commercialisation of a floating wind-powered drilling concept developed by sector pioneer Saitec and Newfoundland-based consultancy Waterford Energy Services (WES) that could be used to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from oil & gas operations off the country’s maritime provinces.
The concept, being funded from a C$24.4m ($20m) pot at Natural Resources Canada (NRC), is envisioned as a “plug-and-play” clean-energy power unit based on Saitec s SATH (swing around twin hull) design that could run mobile drilling rigs and other offshore installations in the Grand Banks area “and abroad”.
“Commonly, professionals from the oil & gas Industry have joined the offshore wind industry bringing valuable know-how and skills. Paradoxically, Saitec is taking the opposite direction coming from the renewable world to oil & gas,” said David Carroscosa, Saitec’s CTO.
Credit: Saitec
The Government of Canada has approved funding for Waterford Energy Services Inc. (WESI) and Saitec Offshore s project designed to power offshore drilling rigs using a plug-and-play renewable energy solution.
The funding program aimed to support programs that would help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from offshore oil and gas activities in Newfoundland and Labrador. The funds granted to the Saitec-WESI partnership come from a competitive process in which around under a hundred plans were assessed for a pool of $24.4 million. The partnership between WESI and Saitec brings together WESI’s offshore oil and gas engineering and technical know-how with Saitec’s floating wind expertise, the companies said.
At other times they have tried to get tough, especially when identifiable members were abusive. But the relationship between the SNP and the cybernats - by which I mean problematic online nationalists, not any nationalist with a social media account - was always tricky. After all, some of the people hiding behind anonymous Twitter handles were to be found among activists. So too were some of those who religiously read the most misleading blogs. Party leaders had twigged they had a problem, but they also knew fixing it meant challenging parts of their base. The result? The party was never quite able to stamp out the scourge of cybernats. Or sufficiently distance itself from it.