This paper presents the development and qualification of a novel Subsea Electric Actuator, especially designed for rotary small-bore valves. One of the main challenges was to design an electric actuator which is as compact as the existing hydraulic actuators, but able to provide a fail-safe mechanism by field-proven springs and full integration of all necessary components, including the electric drive and controls, inside of a compact enclosure. Furthermore, the design team had to considerably reduce its power consumption and weight in comparison to existing solutions. Finally, the system was designed for lean manufacturing, allowing considerable cost-saving benefits for all the partners due to extensive standardization work. The paper shows the engineering requirements obtained by interviewing different users, the design methodology applied and the qualification of the new system up to TRL 3 with Digital Twin and Rapid Prototyping. Finally, an outlook is presented with the planned TRL 4 and TRL 5 qualification tests and a summary of the technical and economic benefits for the users of this novel Subsea Valve Actuator.

In order to realize the benefits of the digitalization and automation of production and processing systems, users first need to increase the level of integration, controllability and monitoring capabilities of each component applied. Therefore, digital twins turn out to be a highly important asset not only for designing greenfield applications, but also for improving brownfield machines. Up to now, digital twins were barely implemented to their full potential throughout the design, integration, and operation phases of production and processing equipment. Based on the experiences gained during the development of a subsea valve actuator, this paper highlights the importance of the digital twin to speed up the engineering and qualification of an innovative mechatronic system, reducing not only the time to market, but also increasing quality and allowing a fast reaction to the experience of the users. As a perspective, the paper shows how an accurate digital twin is a key to successful integration of a new component into complex machines. This includes the entire product lifecycle, from the conceptual work of a system and its virtual commissioning up to remote cloud-based monitoring systems. This paper finishes with an overview of some of the challenges which need to be resolved by the cooperation among different players in order to allow a wide and deep application of Digital Twin in the energy sector industry.

The offshore energy industry relies on heavy-duty equipment to execute complex operations in harsh environments over a long time with remote control and limited maintenance. But how is this equipment powered and controlled to enable reliable and safe operation? Hydraulics have been often used because of the high robustness and safety; but hydraulics also include complex installation, low energy-efficiency and potential environmental risks. On the flipside, subsea electrification seems cost-intensive due to its high power and large batteries needed. This paper explains how a novel subsea electric actuator technology enables a sustainable energy transition combining the ability to move high forces while being cost effective. For CO2 storage, it enables an all-electric subsea tree, comparable in price to a traditional hydraulic tree, but without demanding expensive umbilicals or topside hydraulic power units. In applications requiring long control distances, such as oil & gas fields with long subsea tiebacks or deepsea mining, it allows safe and reliable operation with minimal electric power consumption, capable of precisely handling even high loads.