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Project overview
  • Lead Organisation

    Santos Limited

    Location

    Queensland
    South Australia

    ARENA Program

    Advancing Renewables Program

  • Start date

    14 December 2018

    End date

    31 March 2022

  • Project Partners
    None
    This solar PV project was completed on 31 March 2022.

Summary

Santos’ trial project will convert 56 crude oil beam pumps, which are engine powered to 100 per cent renewable solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage systems.

Key results

  • Santos successfully installed 56 solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage systems on beam pumps in the Cooper Basin.
  • When the renewable energy systems were adequately sized, they were found to be more reliable than the pre-existing crude oil generators.
  • The new renewable energy systems had an average availability rate of 90%.
  • Due to issues with undersizing some wells, future projects should design systems to be expansion ready with modular plug and play options to expand or contract the renewable energy capacity to match each stage in the well’s life.

How the project works

Solar PV – totalling 3.2 MW – and batteries will be installed by multiple contractors at 56 oil wells across the Cooper Basin in South Australia and Queensland to supply each site with 100 per cent renewable energy.

Area of innovation

The crude oil beam pumps project will demonstrate that integrating solar PV and battery storage systems into high availability applications can provide secure and reliable sources of energy for 24/7 remote operations, targeting no thermal generator back up requirement.

Benefit

The project aims to demonstrate how a renewable solar PV and battery storage system combination can provide evidence of the reliability of renewable energy in off-grid locations. The solar beam pumps will reduce emissions and waste from oil production and improve energy productivity by reducing fuel consumption and by eliminating the cost of transporting fuel long distances to remote sites.

If the trial is successful, Santos will look to convert an additional 151 pumps across the Cooper Basin to solar and batteries. By converting all 208 sites, this would save 140 barrels of oil a day currently used to fuel the pumps.

The project could also see increased confidence that renewable energy can provide the reliability required for resources applications and see other companies implement their own renewable energy projects.

Last updated 21 November 2022

ARENAWIRE Blogs

Oil and gas giant embraces renewable energy

In a sign of the times, oil and gas giant Santos has begun the process of transitioning its fleet of beam pumps to run on renewable energy.

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