The main objective in this project is to develop a new control and safety philosophy for subsea systems. The new philosophy aims to overcome some of the challenges of implementing such systems with basis in standards developed for topside conditions, and to ensure that the subsea safety risks and subsea operating environment are fully captured. It is a need to reduce complexity of systems and their interaction, while maintaining a high integrity of critical functions.

The first year of the project focuses on detailing the challenges of existing subsea control and safety systems, identifying subsea risks associated with different subsea field architectures and locations, and investigating industry practise on the application of risk acceptance criteria for safety and asset protection functions. One issue already identified is the opportunity to learn from recent subsea processing installations, like the Åsgard subsea gas compression system.

An outcome of the project will be new knowledge and new principles that may be further adapted into new or existing standards on subsea design and operation.