Aberdeen-based Balmoral Offshore Engineering is creating a new hyperbaric pressure testing facility in its Subsea Test Centre with financial support from the Scottish Government.
Balmoral’s new open access hyperbaric pressure testing facility will support the oil and gas supply chain, specifically, the subsea sector.
Economic development agency Scottish Enterprise is supporting the project with a £1 million ($1.3 million) research and development grant to the company, which will invest £1.5 million ($1.9 million) in the project.
According to estimates, the project could more than double Scotland’s capacity for large-scale open access pressure testing of vessels from two vessels to five.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement ahead of the National Economic Forum in Inverness. She said: “This specialist facility will allow new products to be developed and existing ones to be tested and improved. This will bring huge benefits in developing and supporting emerging technologies in the oil and gas industry.
“Scotland is a world leader in subsea engineering, already accounting for around 15 per cent of the £50 billion global subsea market and as our Subsea Engineering Action Plan has outlined. We want to build on this, supporting companies to grow and ensure we have the class-leading test and research infrastructure needed to meet future needs of a sector that already employs 38,000 in Scotland.
“While it is clear the oil and gas sector faces ongoing challenges, this investment continues to underline the many opportunities that remain in Scotland’s world-class supply chain.
The project will create Scotland’s first fully open access ultra-deep water hyperbaric test facility enabling testing for products that will be exported to international markets.
Jim Milne , chairman and managing director of Balmoral Group, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment from Scottish Enterprise, an organization we have been collaborating successfully with for many years.”