Baker Hughes Secures Gas Contract for Equinor's BM-C-33 Project

Energy technology firm Baker Hughes has announced the receipt of an order from MODEC for the BM-C-33 project in the pre-salt Campos region of Brazil. The contract, booked in the second quarter of 2023, will support the project developed by Equinor, Repsol Sinopec Brasil, and Petrobras.

The order includes the supply of turbomachinery equipment, such as LM2500 gas turbine generators and steam turbine generator technology, intended for a combined cycle power generation solution in the BM-C-33 Floating Production Storage and Offloading unit (FPSO). This technology is expected to decrease the project's carbon footprint. The agreement also covers process design engineering and balance of plant.

Ganesh Ramaswamy, Executive Vice President of Industrial & Energy Technology at Baker Hughes, acknowledged the importance of this contract, stating, "This order is a testament of our established track record when it comes to technology for FPSO vessels. It also strengthens our relationship with MODEC and is a very important milestone in our collaboration with Equinor and its partners."

Combined cycles are gaining traction in the offshore oil and gas sector as they facilitate the reduction of overall FPSO carbon emissions. With Baker Hughes' technology, the BM-C-33 project expects to cut carbon emissions by more than 20% compared to similar open cycle FPSOs with the same power demand. This follows another successful project between Baker Hughes, MODEC, and Equinor, the Bacalhau FPSO in 2020, which also employed combined cycle power generation.

Equinor and its partners aim for the BM-C-33 FPSO to reach a carbon intensity target of less than 6 kg/barrel of oil equivalent (BOE) over the field's lifespan. This target is lower than the global industry average of 16 kg CO₂ per barrel.