Equinor Energy ASA and Snøhvit partners will invest NOK 13.2 billion to upgrade the Hammerfest LNG plant (HLNG) at Melkøya Island in northern Norway. A plan for development and operation (PDO) of the project, Snøhvit Future, was submitted to the Minister of Petroleum and Energy.
The project involves gas onshore compression to provide enough flow from the reservoir to extend plateau production and maintain high gas exports from HLNG beyond 2030 toward 2050, as well as electrification to reduce CO2 emissions by around 850,000 tonnes/year (tpy), the company said in a release Dec. 20.
During normal production conditions, HLNG delivers 18.4 million standard cu m/day of gas, or 6.5 billion cu m/year, equivalent to the energy demand of around 6.5 million European homes, or 5% of all Norwegian gas exports, the operator said.
Three modules will be constructed: a module for a feed gas compressor, a module for electrical steam boilers, and a transformer station. High voltage cables will connect Melkøya to Hyggevatn substation. A tunnel will be constructed beneath the seabed to lead a power cable from Melkøya to Meland. Higher demand for power to HLNG will trigger Statnett’s construction of a 420 kV power line from Skaidi to Hyggevatn. The current gas turbine generators will be replaced with power from shore. Onshore compression and conversion to electrical operation of HLNG are scheduled to start in 2028.
Equinor is operator of Snøhvit with 36.79%. Partners are Petoro AS (30.00%), TotalEnergies EP Norge AS (18.40%), Neptune Energy Norge AS (12%), and Wintershall Dea Norge AS (2.81%).
