Teledyne Energy Systems (Teledyne) and Innova are performing a demonstration of a fuel cell-powered subsea hydraulic power unit (sHPU). The fuel cell being Teledyne’s Subsea Supercharger, a power source which can deliver multiple megawatt hours of energy to subsea devices. The Subsea Supercharger is comprised of a fuel cell module, switch gear/ power conditioning module, and a hydrogen and oxygen reactant storage system. The sHPU has been developed by Innova and is geared to supporting untethered well interventions.

The demonstration has great relevance for the subsea industry as directly addresses a pathway to provide services without a dependency on a subsea power grid. The project merges the capacity of Teledyne’s Subsea Supercharger and Innova’s electrohydraulic pump for low viscosity fluids (sHPU). The demonstration project allows technology gaps to be closed by integrating advanced technology in realistic applications and under actual operating conditions. In the fjord test, conducted at the Tau Autonomy Center outside Stavanger, energy in the form of pure hydrogen and oxygen is converted into hydraulic pressure of subsea control fluid at 235 meter water depth. A world first, this demonstrates how hydrogen can be used for local power of subsea control systems.

This presentation will review lessons learned from operating the Subsea Supercharger during the well intervention simulations at Tau. It will explain the novel system features of the Subsea Supercharger integrated with the sHPU. Lastly, the presentation will status the deep-water ocean and gas community of the Subsea Supercharger’s availability for addressing their future power needs.