LNG

Equinor, the Norwegian energy major, LNG plant owner and pipeline natural gas supplier to Europe, is increasing gas output on the Norwegian Continental Shelf with a gas field joint venture.

Norwegian major Equinor and its partners in the Snøhvit Future project and Hammerfest LNG have awarded a construction and installation contract to domestic company Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner.

The project partners of Equinor are Norway’s Petoro, Fance’s TotalEnergies, UK-listed Neptune Energy and Germany’s Wintershall Dea.

The Snøhvit Future project includes onshore compression and electrification of the Hammerfest LNG export plant.

The regulators postponed the start of electrification by two years until 2030 compared with the original schedule and in the interim the plant will continue to run on gas turbines.

The gas turbines will also be maintained for back-up power from 2030 to 2033.

Exports

Hammerfest exports around 4.70 million tonnes of LNG per annum and most of the volumes are delivered to European destinations like France, Spain, the Netherlands and Lithuania.

Most feed-gas for Hammerfest comes from a total of 20 wells in the Snøhvit and Albatross fields.

This output is transported to land through a 143-kilometre (90-mile) pipeline and the plant processes around 18.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of natural gas per day.

The Leonhard Nilsen company is headquartered in Andøy in Norway’s Nordland county and the work is worth 1.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($143 million) and will generate local spin-offs for other areas including Finnmark and Troms.

“We are pleased to award this contract to a company in Northern Norway. For Equinor, it has been important that the Snøhvit Future project should create ripple effects throughout the region,” said Trond Bokn, Equinor’s Senior Vice President for Project Development.

Reliable supplier

“The Snøhvit Future project will strengthen Norway’s position as a reliable long-term supplier of gas produced with very low greenhouse gas emissions,” Bokn added.

The project will secure jobs in the North of Norway and guarantee energy supply to Europe through 2050.

Three large modules will be installed at the Hammerfest plant including a compressor, a substation and electric steam boilers.

“Extensive modification work will also be carried out. In addition, there will be a lot of activity around Hammerfest, including the construction of a tunnel and transformer substation allowing power to be transmitted from Hyggevatn to Melkøya,” Equinor explained.

Hammerfest LNG is a key company in the region with approximately 350 permanent employees, plus about 150 contractors and apprentices.

The LNG plant also pays 170 million crowns in property taxes annually to the Hammerfest municipality.

As specialists in tunnelling, the Leonhard Nilsen company has delivered several large-scale projects both in Norway and abroad, and construction work will start once the necessary approvals and permits have been received. This is the company’s first assignment for Equinor.

“They submitted the best bid overall, and we look forward to working with a new supplier in the region. Leonhard Nilsen also has a number of sub-suppliers, including Viggo Eriksen in Hammerfest, Alta Anlegg and Hörmann Norway in Tromsø,” said Mette H. Ottøy, Equinor’s Chief Procurement Officer.

Norway’s Equinor has received approval for the development of three more fields in the Norwegian Continental Shelf to supply Europe, including the fast-track Irpa natural gas field to supply several million UK households with gas for seven years in competition to LNG cargoes.

Equinor, the Norwegian oil and gas company, is boosting the feed-gas supplies from another field in the Barents Sea to produce more LNG from the Hammerfest plant on Melkøya Island in northern Norway.