Siemens last week announced the launch of the first hybrid power plant for offshore rigs combined with energy storage featuring lithium-ion batteries. The company first unveiled the Blue Vault power supply and storage system in May this year in yet another sign of its growing focus on energy storage at just the right time. As the oil and gas industry has become the favorite punching bag of the environmentally conscious, sector players have scrambled to find ways to relieve the pressure at least partially. This has combined nicely with the cost-cutting drive that followed the 2014 oil price collapse to produce various tech solutions that offer both lower emissions and lower costs for this or that. In the case of Blue Vault, Siemens said the system could reduce a rig’s fuel consumption by 12 percent with carbon dioxide emissions down by 15 percent. The battery storage part has a […]