By Tass
Copyright tass
MURMANSK, September 29. /TASS/. The use of autonomous logistics technology in the Arctic and Far East Regions will cut cost of work on energy projects by up to 38% and will accelerate their implementation by 24%, Professor Alexey Fadeyev of the Higher School of Industrial Management at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University told TASS.
In September, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) stressed the importance of using actively unmanned technologies in the Far East, as well as of launching a single preferential business regime in the Arctic and the Far East.
“The statements of the country’s leadership at EEF once again confirmed that the development of the Arctic Zone and the Far East is a strategic priority for the Russian economy, as well as areas for using advanced technologies, including autonomous logistics. Generally speaking, unmanned technologies in implementation of energy projects reduce the work cost by 38% and accelerate the field work stage by 24%,” the expert said.
The Arctic oil and gas fields have been using Russian-made underwater, land-based and aerial drones, which increases the competitiveness of Russian projects in difficult climatic conditions and makes them attractive for investments, including foreign ones, he added. Development of unmanned technologies is the most important strategic long-term task for modern oil and gas companies implementing projects in the Arctic.
“Drones can perform the widest possible range of tasks, such as delivering goods to deposits, monitoring the environment, seismic surveys, and taking photos and videos,” the expert continued. “The key advantage is their uninterrupted round-the-clock operation in all weather conditions, which will ensure stable transportation due to resistance to the Arctic climate.”
Technology development
There are three main directions in development and application of unmanned technologies, he said. The first one is underwater vehicles that may be used for complex work to prepare construction sites, to lay pipelines, cables, repair various damages, as well as in geology exploration. The second direction is unmanned vehicles.
“An important feature of such vehicles is that they are allowed to serve routes in difficult weather conditions, when regular vehicles are not allowed. This technological solution is a most expressive example of using modern digital solutions in implementation of projects in the Arctic and the Far East,” he said.
The third area is unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and the use of them is a key trend in modern aviation. In the civilian sector, they may be used to deliver cargo, in monitoring, sensing, surveillance, and security. As UAVs’ technical capabilities are expanding, the range of tasks is growing: magnetic exploration, mapping, and laser scanning in creating digital terrain models.
More than 1,000 projects with more than 35 trillion rubles ($419 billion) of investment are being implemented in the Russian Federation’s Arctic Zone. This has become possible due to the preferential Arctic regimes, he said. The Far East is the fastest growing macroregion in the country. The economic growth rate there is higher than elsewhere in the Russian Federation. Over the recent decade, GRP has increased by more than 2.5 times, to 11 trillion rubles ($132 billion). The Far Eastern Federal District’s developing projects are in shipbuilding, energy, petrochemicals, fishery, and tourism.
