McDermott has completed the completion of fabrication, construction, and offshore floatover of the Scarborough floating production unit (FPU) topside and hull structures for Woodside Energy. The contract, awarded in 2021, followed the successful delivery of front-end engineering design for the Scarborough Energy Project’s FPU and includes engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning services.
McDermott is delivering design, fabrication, integration, transportation, and installation of an approximately 30,000-metric-ton topside and 37,000-metric-ton hull structure, making it the largest floating production facility the contractor has ever designed and built, and one of the largest semisubmersible production platforms built in offshore history.
Topsides fabrication was completed at McDermott’s joint venture yard, Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan in Qingdao, China, while the hull was constructed by COSCO in its Qidong shipyard, also in China. The topsides have six deck levels; 169 core equipment units, including three gas turbine-driven export gas compressors and three main generators with waste heat recovery systems; more than 50,000 m of piping; 1 million m of cabling; 568 integrated subsystems, and a battery energy storage system, supporting operational emissions reduction.
Earlier this month, both structures were transported offshore, and the topsides installed onto the hull via floatover off the coast of Dalian, China.
“The floatover of the FPU is an engineering marvel and builds on the safe and successful fabrication of the topsides and hull,” said Liz Westcott, Woodside executive vice president and chief operating officer Australia. “Maneuvering two structures that each weigh more than 30,000 tonnes at sea is an exceptionally complex operation. I am proud of the Woodside and McDermott teams for the safe delivery of the FPU to the integration yard and the completion of this chapter of work. The FPU is a critical piece of infrastructure for this world-class project which continues to be delivered to the highest standard.”
Following the successful floatover, the FPU arrived at CIMC’s Raffles yard in Yantai, China, for final integration works. From there, it is expected to sail away to Western Australia, where it will be moored at the Scarborough gas field approximately 375 km offshore from the Burrup Peninsula.
The Scarborough FPU is one part of the larger, $12.5 billion Scarborough Energy Project comprising the Scarborough gas field, construction of Pluto LNG Train 2, modifications to the existing Pluto Train 1, and the Integrated Remote Operations Center being built in Perth. According to Woodside, the project is roughly 82% complete.
The Scarborough gas field is being developed through the new FPU and related subsea wells connected by an approximately 430-km pipeline to a second LNG train (Pluto Train 2) at the existing Pluto LNG onshore facility.
The initial phase of development includes eight wells, and 13 wells drilled over the life of the Scarborough gas field. Approximately 5 mtpa of Scarborough gas will be processed through Pluto Train 2, with up to 3 mtpa processed through the existing Pluto Train 1.
Train 2 is expected to be ready to receive its first LNG cargo during the second half of 2026.
