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According to Dresser-Rand, several energy business analysts and industry sources such as the International Energy Agency forecast continual growth in the demand for floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSO) and LNG solutions. Fossil fuel energy supplies will increasingly require extraction from deposits that are more difficult and costly to exploit - including deepwater and non-conventional oil and gas reserves. Greater attention is also being given to transporting fossil fuels trapped in the world's economically stranded reserves, or ESRs (also known as 'stranded fields' or 'stranded reservoirs'). With an estimated 90 trillion m3 of natural gas remaining untouched in ESRs, these remote locations represent billions of dollars in potential energy supply.
With long-term worldwide population growth, rising living standards and energy prices, environmental pressures and growing markets, this change in focus is fostering the development of new technologies - for both the LNG and FPSO industries.
Peter Brotherhood Ltd. began supplying steam engines for the Royal Navy's warships more than a century ago and had been designing and manufacturing steam turbines since 1907. During the 1940s and 1950s, the company became widely recognized as a major marine turbine manufacturer. In 2008, Dresser-Rand Company Ltd acquired certain assets of Peter Brotherhood Ltd.
Reliable, Efficient Power
Dresser-Rand's Peterborough operation has supplied more than 40 steam turbines (up to 27 MW) for generator sets that ensure reliable and efficient power for many of the world's leading FPSO operators including Woodside, Single Buoy Moorings (SBM), BW Offshore, Saipem, Bluewater, Aker Floating Production, Fred Olsen Production, and Maersk FPSOs. Not only is the technology required to power the massive FPSO vessels critical, but the generator sets must be designed and manufactured for on-board use.