Woodside Petroleum has partnered with Swiss technology giant ABB to develop a world-first microgrid battery installation to power its offshore oil rigs. The Goodwyn A platform will have a one megawatt-hour lithium-ion battery storage system installed on the rig, which is part of the North West Shelf project, approximately 135 kilometres off the coast of Western Australia. This was the first time an offshore oil rig had turned to battery storage technology to reduce energy usage, the companies said. It will replace one of the six existing gas turbine generators at the facility, reduce the need for a back-up diesel generator on the platform, and act as a “spinning reserve” for the oil rig’s microgrid. The installation can power the equivalent of 230 homes for eight hours.