Wheatstone Project

Abstract

Background The $29 billion Wheatstone Project is one of Australia’s largest resource projects, located 12 km west of Onslow on the Pilbara coast of WA. Objective NewSat was selected to provide vital communication services to the Wheatstone Project as the supplier of the Operations Satellite System to deliver remote internet, voice, video, and data services for LNG operations, OH&S compliance, backup communications, and onsite staff welfare. A project as large and complex as the Wheatstone Project required a range of solutions to overcome multiple communication challenges due to the large and varied number of users and diverse and harsh onsite weather conditions. With long standing relationships with Australian oil and gas service providers, NewSat had the reputation and experience to deliver the satellite services required. Solution NewSat worked closely with the Wheatstone engineering and design team to ensure the project had the best possible satellite service available and the highest amount of design options as the Project matured. The final design was a meshed satellite network, linking the onshore production facility at Onslow, the offshore platform, and the Perth head office. As a 24 x 7 x 365 operation, the project required an always-on satellite service. NewSat’s wide range of satellites provided line-of-site and satellite diversity to ensure there was no single point of failure across the satellite network. As well as providing the best infrastructure, NewSat integrated Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM) into the network to overcome the varying atmospheric challenges inherent in the region.