A pioneering tech expert has told ADIPEC Energy Dialogue that up to 80 per cent of plant shutdowns could be mitigated through combination of advanced electrification, automation and digitalisation technologies. Meanwhile, greater use of renewables in power management processes offers oil & gas firms opportunities to create efficiencies, sustainability and affordability when modernising equipment, or planning new CAPEX projects.

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Dr Peter Terwiesch, President of Industrial Automation at ABB – the Swiss-Swedish multinational company, operating mainly in robotics, power, heavy electrical equipment, and automation technology areas – advised that leveraging the synergies created by the convergence of electrification, automation and digitalisation, can create significant cost savings for oil & gas companies when making both operational and capital investment decisions.

 

Participating in the latest ADIPEC Energy Dialogue https://www.adipec.com/press-media/energy-dialogues/, Dr Terwiesch said up to 80 per cent of energy industry plant shutdowns – caused by human error, or rotating machinery or power outages – could be mitigated through a combination of electrification, automation and digitalisation.

 

Operational, cost schedule and CAPEX savings

 

“Savings are clearly possible not only on the operation side but also, using the same synergies between dimensions, you can bring down the cost schedule and risk of capital investment, especially in a time when making projects work economically is harder,” explained Dr Terwiesch.

 

A pioneering technology leader who works closely with utility, industry, transportation and infrastructure customers, Dr Terwiesch said that despite the increasing investment by oil & gas companies in renewables, alongside the growing use of renewables to generate electricity both for individual and industrial uses, hydrocarbons would continue to have an important role in creating energy in the short to medium term. 

 

“If you look at the energy density constraints, clearly electricity is gaining share but electricity is not the source of energy; it is a conduit of energy. The energy has to come from somewhere, and that can be hydrocarbons, or nuclear, or renewables.” he said.

 

Creating new efficiencies, sustainability and affordability

 

Nevertheless, he added, the greater use of renewables to generate electricity offers oil & gas companies the option of integrating a higher share of renewables into power management processes to create efficiencies, sustainability and affordability when modernising equipment, or planning new CAPEX projects.

 

The ADIPEC Energy Dialogue is a series of online thought leadership events created by dmg events, organisers of the annual Abu Dhabi International Exhibition and Conference. Featuring key stakeholders and decision-makers in the oil and gas industry, the dialogues focus on how the industry is evolving and transforming in response to the rapidly changing energy market.

 

With this year’s in-person ADIPEC exhibition and conference postponed until November 2021, the ADIPEC Energy Dialogue, along with insightful webinars, podcasts and on line panels continue to connect the oil and gas industry, with the challenges and opportunities shaping energy markets in the run up to, and following, a planned three-day live stream virtual ADIPEC conference taking place from 9–11 November.

 

A first-of-its-kind for the industry, the online conference will bring together energy leaders, ministers and global oil & gas CEOs to assess the collective measures the industry needs to put in place to fast-track recovery, post Covid-19. 

 

Watch the full ADIPEC Energy Dialogue series below: