Equinor has opened the K-lab Marine Robotics Centre (KNARR), a marine robotics test center at the Kårstø processing plant in Norway, inaugurated on October 28 in Tysvær. The facility will develop and qualify underwater robots, autonomous vessels and other technologies for the inspection, monitoring, maintenance and security of offshore installations. Equinor said the center is among the first test centers of its kind worldwide connected to an operating plant, allowing technologies to be developed and tested in an operational environment, and it will be available to companies across maritime industries. Three testing areas have been established at water depths of 25, 140 and 250 meters, while three kilometers of subsea cable and associated electronics have been installed to support long-term sensor testing. Together with existing power cables, export pipelines and subsea structures, the infrastructure will enable testing of technologies including distributed acoustic sensing (DAS). Equinor and Gassco have so far allocated $1.73 million (NOK 16 million) to establish the center, with scope for future expansion. Equinor estimates that the use of underwater robots and autonomous vessels could generate annual cost savings of several hundred million Norwegian kroner in the coming years. Hege Skryseth, executive vice president for Technology, Digitalisation and Innovation in Equinor, said the company has set a goal of reducing operational costs significantly by 2035.