Aker Solutions: Aiming for active collaboration

Aker Solutions at Ågotnes becomes a partner in GCE Ocean Technology with the aim of an active collaboration.

Aker Solutions' local branch at Ågotnes in Øygarden signed a new collaboration agreement with GCE Ocean Technology in August.

Aker Solutions has activities all over the world. For the company's operations at Ågotnes, most of the work involves the installation, service and maintenance of equipment that is placed on the seabed by the oil and gas installations.

– This equipment will produce for many years, and our job is to keep it in operation as much and as long as possible, says Atle Saure Lokøy, who is the company's Pursuit Manager at Ågotnes, responsible for business development and technical sales.

A clear goal

The goal of the partnership with GCE Ocean Technology is clear. This means taking responsibility for developing collaboration that can bring forth new technology and new services that the operators on the Norwegian continental shelf will need. Not least when they have to adapt to a greener future.

– If we don’t collaborate with the smart companies around us, others will, so we have to seize such opportunities. The operators want the suppliers to share knowledge and collaborate on developing the technology they will need, and as a major player we have a responsibility to bring other companies in the industry along with us. If someone can spin off our ideas, or we can play with others’, we can develop new products and services. In that context, GCE Ocean Technology is an ideal arena, says Lokøy.

Goes to great lengths to share

The technology the operators are demanding is increasingly about making the offshore industry greener.

The operators on the NCS, like everyone else, must align themselves with the Paris Agreement and reduce emissions significantly by 2030 when the world will not look like it does today. Thus, the supplier industry must develop green technology that meets the operators' needs.

Such solutions are already being developed by Aker Solutions, not least in simplifying and digitizing processes.

– We obviously think about our own business and do not give away business secrets, but we go to great lengths to achieve good collaboration. If no one shares anything, we won't get any further, says Lokøy.

Great commitment

He has already registered great commitment among the employees in Aker Solutions who are motivated by being able to contribute to the GCE Ocean Technology cluster.

– We want to show ourselves and everyone around us that we are part of something bigger. We want to be an active member, to reap the most value out of our partnership, says Lokøy.

A junction box

An active partnership also means participating in forums and events where the major topics in the industry are discussed and where relevant knowledge is exchanged.

– GCE Ocean Technology is a junction box for us who work in this industry. They are skilled and do a good job, not least in facilitating collaboration and through events where we can participate and learn and meet students and recent graduates. They are also responsive to our input on what we think they can offer us, and that is also an important element, says Lokøy.