Aberdeen-based Proserv has officially launched a global Research and Development (R&D) hub in Norway to design subsea controls and communications technologies.

The new hub strengthens the company’s evolving international infrastructure in support of its subsea production systems business, it said. This includes facilities in the UK providing subsea systems test and assembly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and subsea controls systems design and manufacture in Great Yarmouth, England.

The new R&D facility at Trondheim, Norway represents a significant investment for Proserv, it said, and features an advanced electronics workshop spanning 500sq metres, a technology showroom for demonstrations and 1,100sq metres of office space.

Chief executive officer David Lamont said the centre will serve “as a global hub for all of our subsea communications and controls R&D activities, which are at the core of our business”.

He described Trondheim as Norway’s “capital of technology”, saying it was a natural fit for its R&D hub. It is also home to The Norwegian University of Science and Technology and SINTEF, the largest independent research institute in Scandinavia, plus a large presence of energy companies in the city.