Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway – Equinor and its partners Vår Energi, LOTOS, and KUFPEC have made an investment decision to partly electrify the Sleipner field in the Norwegian North Sea. They have submitted a revised plan for development and operation to the authorities.
The solution for the Sleipner field center will entail laying a new power cable from Sleipner to the Gina Krog platform, which will be tied into the area solution for power from shore on the Utsira High. During periods when the power need is greater than the capacity in the area solution, Sleipner will use gas turbines, like they do today, to cover the power need.
Emissions savings from all the fields connected to the area solution on the Utsira High are estimated at around 1.15 million metric tons of CO₂ on average per year, according to Equinor. Sleipner’s share of this reduction is expected to be more than 150,000 metric tons of CO₂ annually. Sleipner’s annual NOx reduction is expected to be about 700 metric tons.
The Business Sector’s NOx Fund will contribute up to NOK 430 million ($46 million) to realize partial electrification of the Sleipner field center and the associated fields.
In October 2019, the Johan Sverdrup license, together with the partners in Gina Krog, Ivar Aasen, Edvard Grieg and Sleipner with its tie-in fields, reached agreement on allocation of shore-based power from the Utsira High. Power from shore to the area solution is part of the second phase of the Johan Sverdrup development, and will be designed with an additional capacity of 35 MW in order to meet more new power needs in the time ahead.
Aibel was awarded a front-end engineering and design contract in October 2019 to electrify Sleipner. This contract has now been expanded to an engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contract.
The EPCIC contract is valued at around NOK 400 million ($43 million) and will yield about 170 man-years distributed over two years at Aibel’s office in Stavanger and at the yard in Haugesund. Equipment purchases from subcontractors are also expected to amount to about NOK 150 million ($16 million). The contract is contingent on the authorities’ final approval of the amended plan for development and operation.
An investment decision has also been made for electrification of Gina Krog. This was a requirement from the authorities in connection with approval of the field’s plan for development and operation.
Aibel also received the EPCIC contract to electrify Gina Krog. The value of the contract is around NOK 160 million ($17 million), and it will result in about 60 man-years distributed over 1.5 years.
To enable electrification of the Sleipner field, a 28-km (17-mi) high voltage cable must be laid between Gina Krog and Sleipner. Gina Krog will be connected to Johan Sverdrup by a 62-km (38-mi) high voltage cable. NKT received the contract to produce and lay the cables. The company has laid the cable from Johan Sverdrup to the Gina Krog field.
Sleipner power from shore investment is expected to be about NOK 850 million ($92 million) and NOK 640 million ($69 million) for Gina Krog. The plan is to connect Sleipner and Gina Krog to the power from shore area solution to the Utsira High by the end of 2022.
06/09/2020
