Norway's state-owned Statoil has let contract to Linde AG to develop a concept for a Norwegian project to produce liquefied natural gas from Norwegian Sea gas fields.
The proposed LNG plant would be built at Melk ya, 4 miles outside Hammerfest , the northernmost city in the world. It would use natural gas produced from undeveloped Sn hvit, Albatross, and Askeladden fields, northwest of Cape North.
Linde's process engineering and contracting division, headquartered in Munich, will develop an extended-concept engineering package that includes technical definition, project execution strategies, and detailed cost estimates in cooperation with Norwegian companies Aker Maritime and Multiconsult/Barlindhaug and Italian compressor manufacturer Nuovo Pignone.
Linde will use its process technology, manufacturing facilities, and technical expertise for cryogenic equipment (especially spiral-wound heat exchangers) for the LNG plant.
A Norwegian shipyard, to be selected later, will construct a purpose-built barge that will be permanently docked at Melk ya in a berth blasted to fit barge dimensions. Linde says the barge concept will allow the LNG plant to be fully tested and precommissioned before it is towed to Melk ya.
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