据堪培拉时报2月8日报道，澳大利亚电气工程师保罗·卡德威尔（Paul Cadwell）正在执行一项任务，将非运营状态的石油钻井平台转变为清洁绿色的电能生产平台。
作为Legacy全球绿色能源公司的首席执行官，他表示，世界上有超过17个国家在海洋中已经废弃或正在慢慢废弃石油和天然气平台。
他表示:“一旦油气平台达到其生命周期的尽头，石油公司有义务让这些平台安全退役，但是事实，许多公司会放弃它们，将它们滞留在海上，而这是不应该的。因此，我们计划重新利用这些平台，不拆除它们，而是将它们转变为电能生产平台。我们可以从海底平台铺设一条电缆到海岸，并将其连接到陆上电网。”
卡德威尔表示，重新利用钻井平台将为油气公司提供另一个收入来源，而不必花费数亿美元来移除它们。他表示:“我们为油气公司提供了一种从石油转向可再生能源的替代方案，可以重新利用或过渡一个平台，其成本比移除成本低50%左右。”
在美国墨西哥湾，至少有3700个石油和天然气平台需要退役。在澳大利亚，大约有15个。
美国国家海洋石油安全和环境管理局发言人表示，根据法律规定，当一个设施停止运营时，它必须退役，可以通过不同的方式来进行。其中有一些设施被完全拆除，其他部分被拆除，还有一些被重新利用。
Legacy计划在全球和西澳大利亚州设立办事处，由工程师负责与公司和政府讨论重新使用这些平台的可行性研究。
凯德威尔表示:“多年来，我们已与多家公司进行了讨论，它们对此相当感兴趣，但行动力太差。我们需要可行性研究，因为并不是所有的平台都适合，一些已经处于衰退状态，或者结构可能无法承受我们将安装在平台上的电力涡轮机的重量。现在是一个实施该计划的正确时间，可再生能源行业一直偏向太阳能和风能，不过，现如今地热也在人们心中掀起了巨大的浪潮，我们的计划实施将基于地热能。
他补充道：“地热技术在陆上是一项成熟的技术，我们打算使用完全相同的技术向近海过渡。这令人兴奋，因为我们讲给世界留下一个清洁的未来。”
王佳晶 摘译自 堪培拉时报
原文如下：
Busselton man's mission to re-purpose oil rigs into clean green electrical energy producers
Southwestern Western Australia resident Paul Cadwell is on a mission to turn non-operational oil rigs into clean-green electrical energy producing platforms.
Mr Cadwell, of Busselton, is an electrical engineer and has spent his 50-year career working on large-scale construction projects around the world.
He is the chief executive of Legacy Global Green Energy, saying there were more than 17 countries around the world that have defunct or abandoned oil and gas platforms in the ocean.
"once oil and gas platforms reach the end of their life cycle a lot of companies abandon them or leave them [offshore]," he said.
"It is against the law in a lot of countries to do that and they are obliged to decommission and remove them, however there is no will to police it.
"Our process is to re-purpose those platforms without having to remove them and turn them into electrical energy producing platforms.
"We can run a cable from the platform under sea to shore and connect it to the electricity grid."
Mr Cadwell said re-purposing platforms would provide another source of revenue to oil and gas companies without having to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to remove them.
"We are providing oil and gas companies with an alternative to transition from oil to renewable energy, and can re-purpose or transition a platform at a cost of around 50 per cent less than the cost to remove it," he said.
There are at least 3,700 oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico off the US coast, which were sitting in the ocean requiring decommissioning.
In Australia there are around 15 oil platforms in Commonwealth waters off the coast of WA, the NT, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmanian coastlines.
A National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority spokesperson said when a facility ceased operations it was required by law to be decommissioned, which could occur in various ways.
The spokesperson said some facilities were removed completely, others partially, and others repurposed.
Legacy Global Green Energy plans to setup offices globally and in WA which will be staffed by engineers who will talk to companies and governments about doing feasibility studies on repurposing the platforms.
"Over the years we've had discussions with a number of companies, they were quite interested in it but like everything in Australia, the Australians will sit on their hands and wait and see until someone else does it," Mr Cadwell said.
"We need feasibility studies because not everyone of those platforms will be suitable, some are in a state of decay or the structure might not withstand the weight of electrical turbines we would put on the platforms.
"We are doing this at the right time, the darlings of renewables have been solar and wind, however geothermal is making big waves in the public and our process is based on geothermal.
"Geothermal is a proven technology onshore and we intend to transition that to shore from an ocean based platform using exactly the same technology.
"It is exciting and the main reason I am doing this is because I need to leave a legacy for a clean world for my son and future generations," he said.
