WEG gas turbine generators on the way to offshore locations

Turbogenerator for the Mero platform at WEG facility

An FPSO is a Floating Production Storage and Offloading ship. This is today´s most common method used to produce offshore crude oil and natural gas in deep waters. There are currently about 200 of these vessels in operation worldwide and they are a great fit for assets located far from the shore. Their key advantage is that they do not require a local pipeline infrastructure to export the crude oil and gas. This is the case of Búzios V FPSOand Mero 2 FPSO. It will also be the case for other planned offshore projects off of Brazil’s coastline. Industry experts forecast more than 30 FPSOs will be awarded between today and 2023. Approximately half of them are to operate in Brazil.

WEG has been preparing to support this industry by making strategic investments during the last decade. This included the acquisition of Electric Machinery, a company founded in 1891 and based in Minneapolis (USA). This acquisition specifically added the 3600 rpm gas turbine generator technology to WEG’s ever expanding portfolio. WEG Electric Machinery has manufactured over 1000 of these generators since 1947. This represents over 20,000 MW of installed global capacity. Using this extensive knowhow, WEG has developed the ST20 2-pole (3600 rpm) generator. Búzios V FPSO will feature 2-pole generators made in Brazil. This is certainly an advantage given the local content regulation, but WEG is proud to say that the solution has proven to be competitive for projects worldwide. WEG’s participation for Buzios V FPSO includes four 40MVA 2-pole generators. These Brazilian manufactured generators will be shipped to our customer’s location, also in Brazil, where the gas turbines will be packaged.

Building 4-pole (1800 rpm) generators in Brazil for O&G offshore projects is something WEG has been performing for decades and the company has over 50 units in operation offshore. The latest WEG project includes four 36MVA 4-pole generators for the Mero 2 FPSO. WEG’s extensive experience in delivering more than 800 x 4-pole generators translates into increased safety and reliability for our customers.

In addition to these latest eight gas turbine generators, WEG is supplying over 60 MV (medium voltage) motors as large as 13,000kW and most of the LV (low voltage) motors for the two FPSOs. The mechanical applications include gas export compressors, gas injection compressors, VRU compressors, water injection pumps, flowline circulations pumps and SRU pumps among other services. WEG has also been selected to supply three MV variable speed drives (VSD’s) for pump motors on one of the projects.

“With a solid track record in delivering electrical equipment to FPSOs, WEG is very well positioned to serve our clients with competitive solutions, especially in the current market environment with the oil price hitting the lowest mark in decades” says Elder Stringari, International Director of WEG. All this, with strict adherence to the most demanding international quality standards and delivering the market’s best offshore after-sales support in Brazil.