The North Sea Oil & Gas operator Maersk Oil was concerned about the reliability of their emergency diesel generator to provide power for their critical loads in the event they lose the main gas turbine power supply. Typically, emergency generators are periodically tested to ensure that they are operationally sound and can “pick up the load.” Because the diesel generator tests were performed on a weekly basis through an automated system, the emergency generator failed to start on a number of occasions, for an FPSO this could have been a potentially dangerous situation leading to a prolonged black out and loss of production if the generator was called for in a real emergency event.

The faulty generator control panel components were replaced, however during a further investigation it was found that many of the existing components within the generator control panel were found to be obsolete. Engineering Power Solutions (on behalf of Petrofac) were requested to produce a detailed report on the condition of the generator control panel. The findings of the report showed that the client could either refurbish the existing panel or replace the complete panel both during a shutdown. In order to minimise the shutdown period it was decided to replace the complete panel.

EPS produced the following necessary documentation for enquiry and enable equipment purchase:

• Site survey
• Schematic drawings
• Cable routing drawings
• Control panel specification
• Purchase requisition
• Factory Acceptance Test procedure

This solution modernised the emergency generator control system to enable the vessel essential power supply system to be in service for a further 20 years.