Equinor Energy AS and partners submitted a revised plan for Sleipner field development and operation to authorities after making an investment decision to partly electrify the North Sea field in line with company plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
The plan entails 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 Utsira High. When greater power is needed, Sleipner will use gas turbines.
The Sleipner fields are one of the two major gas producers in the North Sea, and a hub for transporting gas to Europe and to the Kårstø processing plant.
Emissions savings from all fields connected to the area solution on Utsira High are estimated at 1.15 million tonnes/year of CO₂ on average. Sleipner’s share of this reduction is expected to be more than 150,000 tonnes/year of CO₂. The NOx Fund will contribute up to NOK 430 million for partial electrification.
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 Utsira High (OGJ Online, Oct. 7, 2019). 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 to meet future additional power needs.
Aibel was awarded a front-end engineering and design contract in October 2019 to electrify Sleipner. The contract has now been expanded to an engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning contract valued at around NOK 400 million. Equipment purchases from subcontractors are expected to amount to NOK 150 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. The EPCIC contract to complete the work of electrifying Gina Krog has also been awarded to Aibel. The value of the contract is around NOK 160 million.
To enable electrification of the Sleipner field, a 28-km high voltage cable must be laid between Gina Krog and Sleipner. Gina Krog will be connected to Johan Sverdrup by a 62-km high voltage cable. The contract for production and laying of cables has been awarded to NKT. NKT has already performed the work of laying the cable from Johan Sverdrup to Gina Krog field.
Sleipner power from shore investment will be around NOK 850 million and Gina Krog NOK 640 million. 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.
Equinor is operator of the Sleipner license. Partners are Vår Energi AS, LOTOS Exploration and Production Norge AS, and KUFPEC Norway AS.