en.Wedoany.com Reported - Schneider Electric and Bilfinger are testing a self-powered buoy in the North Sea, aiming to reduce costs, carbon emissions, and crew risks in offshore oil and gas production through automation technology. The buoy operates autonomously without requiring personnel to board, with its control system based on Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure Automation Expert platform.
Traditionally, transmitting power and control signals to remote offshore oil and gas wells requires laying "umbilical cables" that connect subsea equipment to manned platforms—a solution that is expensive to install and carbon-intensive. This is particularly uneconomical for marginal fields with small reserves or high costs. Bilfinger's autonomous buoy is a Normally Unmanned Installation (NUI) capable of operating in harsh sea conditions, offering a cheaper, low-carbon alternative. The project was commissioned by Buoyant Production Technologies, a subsidiary of Crondall Energy, with Bilfinger responsible for designing the system to support autonomous operation.
The buoy's control system is based on Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure Automation Expert, an open software-defined platform where applications are not tied to specific hardware, supporting a mix of multi-vendor devices. The core controller is the Modicon M580 dPAC programmable automation controller, handling functional logic and data flow. Power is supplied by a renewable energy microgrid comprising wind, solar photovoltaic, and battery storage, with a diesel generator as backup. Remote monitoring relies on 5G and SpaceX's Starlink for high-availability shore-based communication, while safety systems include fire, gas, and smoke detection along with a layered cybersecurity framework to prevent intrusions.
Since commencing operation in late 2025, the buoy has achieved 1,000 hours of autonomous operation without any faults or incidents. For this project, Bilfinger was named Schneider Electric's UK EAE Partner of the Year for 2025. Steven Parkinson, Director of Automation, Production & Services at Bilfinger UK, stated that traditional automation architectures make customization difficult, especially for first-of-its-kind projects, and this initiative integrates renewable energy generation, remote operation, and autonomous control principles. Devan Pillay, President of Heavy Industry at Schneider Electric, noted that the real opportunity lies in replicating and scaling this approach for future assets to drive a low-carbon offshore industry.
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