Equinor Energy AS started partially operating Sleipner field center, along with the Gudrun platform and other associated fields, on power delivered from shore. Onshore power is expected to decrease CO2 emissions from the Norwegian Continental Shelf by 160,000 tonnes/year (tpy).
Sleipner field center has been supplied with onshore power via a cable from the Gina Krog platform since Mar. 24, 2024. Starting on the same date, the Gudrun platform was connected to electricity through the existing cable to Sleipner.
One of two operative gas turbines on the Sleipner A platform will gradually be shut down as relevant systems transition to using power from shore. The other gas turbine will stand by as a back-up power source during a run-in phase. In the longer run, Sleipner will have the opportunity to fully operate on power from shore, the operator said.
All installations on the Utsira High are now receiving power from shore, saving emissions amounting to about 1.2 million tpy of CO₂. Electrification of the installations on the Utsira High is in line with the plan for development and operation for Johan Sverdrup phase 2, which was approved by the Norwegian parliament in 2019.
In 2020, the Sleipner partnership exercised an option with Aibel for an engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning contract for the modification work on Sleipner field center. NKT was awarded the contract to manufacture and lay the power cables (OGJ Online June 29, 2020). Overall investments in the project total NOK 1.08 billion.
Equinor is operator of the Sleipner license. Partners are Vår Energi AS, LOTOS Exploration and Production Norge AS, and KUFPEC Norway AS.
Alex Procyk | Upstream Editor
Alex Procyk is Upstream Editor at Oil & Gas Journal. He has also served as a principal technical professional at Halliburton and as a completion engineer at ConocoPhillips. He holds a BS in chemistry (1987) from Kent State University and a PhD in chemistry (1992) from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).