Producing gas with renewables – come rain or shine
Timi off the coast of Malaysia is Shell’s first gas production platform to be powered by both wind and solar energy.
On April 2, 2024
Monsoon season in South-east Asia: torrential rain and strong winds sweep across the South China Sea and batter the north-west coast of Borneo, bending the palm trees backwards. Tourists and street sellers scurry for cover.
Out at sea, around 200 kilometres (km) north-west of Sarawak, miniature turbines on Shell’s latest unmanned gas production platform, Timi, spin like paper windmills.
Timi began production in August 2023. It is one of two Shell-operated platforms off the coast of Malaysia – the other is called Gorek, 145 km offshore – that are powered chiefly by solar panels, which cover their surfaces and harvest energy from the intense tropical sun. When the Rosmari-Marjoram platform begins production in 2026, it too will be mostly solar-powered.
But while Gorek and Rosmari-Marjoram rely on diesel generators for backup when night falls or clouds obscure the sun, Timi first falls back on another renewable source of energy, wind. On occasions when there is no wind or sun, a diesel generator provides power.
“Solar power is not so great during the monsoon season, because there is not enough sun to charge the batteries,” says Timi project leader Norizah Othman. “However, we discovered that in the monsoon, the wind will be strong enough to turn a small turbine.”
Timi uses a relatively small amount of energy. The platform is designed to produce up to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent of gas a day while drawing just 3 kilowatts (kW) of power – the equivalent of three hairdryers.
Offshore oil and gas platforms are conventionally powered by gas turbines or by electricity from the local grid supplied through undersea cables. Integrating renewables and low-carbon electricity into new oil and gas developments is one of three key ways the industry can reduce emissions from its upstream operations, along with steps to minimise flaring and tackle methane emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“More than half of global oil and gas production today lies within 10 km of an electricity grid and 75% takes place in an area with good wind or solar resources,” says the IEA in a . “The energy at upstream facilities could therefore be provided by electricity from a centralised grid or generated in a decentralised renewable energy system.”
Gas from Timi is transported to a production hub via an 80 km pipeline, and then on to the Malaysia Liquefied Natural Gas (MLNG) facility in Bintulu, operated by PETRONAS, Malaysia’s national energy company. From there it is exported to Japan, Korea and Taiwan to help meet growing demand for gas in the region.
A blueprint for shallow-water production
Norizah grew up in Malaysia and has worked for Shell since graduating as a chemical engineer in 1997. She believes that while gas production will continue to provide energy security in South-east Asia, projects like Timi will also help the world achieve the goal of a net-zero emissions energy system by 2050 to tackle climate change.
“Following the success of the Gorek development with solar power, we saw the opportunity to test a hybrid system which would increase reliability of the power generation,” says Norizah. “Designing the facility with low power consumption has resulted in a lighter platform, reduction of carbon emissions and lower capital costs.”
Shell has now adopted Timi as its blueprint for shallow water production platforms in Malaysia and plans to replicate the model in countries with similar climates.
Timi sits in the offshore Central Luconia fields, where gas has been produced for nearly 40 years. The region is a habitat for migratory mammals, turtles and coral reefs.
In developing gas projects in the area, Shell has worked closely with the local regulator to make sure construction did not disturb the marine environment, and that waste was disposed of responsibly. Shell also sponsors several research studies by the local university, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), into the impact of environmental conditions on marine life, as well as supporting turtle conservation.
As the world moves towards a lower-carbon energy system, natural gas is expected to play a crucial role in helping countries to wean themselves off more carbon-intensive and polluting coal for power generation. Using renewable energy to produce vital supplies of gas is one way Shell works to deliver a secure supply of energy with lower emissions.
