Equinor Energy and its partners in the Sn ø hvit license have agreed to upgrade Hammerfest LNG plant in Melk ø ya Island, Norway, with an investment of 1.34 billion US dollars. The project aims to ensure the future of LNG plants, involving onshore gas compression and electrification.

Hammerfest LNG plant was put into use in 2007, and transmitted natural gas through 143 km pipeline through Sn ø hvit oilfield in Barents Sea.

Equinor said that it had submitted the development and operation plan of Sn ø hvit Future to the Norwegian Minister of Oil and Energy on behalf of the Sn ø hvit partnership. The Sn ø hvit Future project consists of the power operation transformation of onshore compression and LNG projects, and is planned to start in 2028.

According to the Norwegian oil and gas giant, onshore gas compression will provide sufficient flow to the reservoir to expand plateau production and maintain high gas exports from Hammerfest LNG facilities after 2030.

Through electrification, Sn ø hvit partners estimate that the CO2 emissions of LNG plants can be reduced by about 850000 tons per year. The electrification part of the project requires replacing the existing gas turbine generator with onshore power.

The Norwegian energy company said that due to this development, the operation phase is estimated to be extended for 10 years, while maintaining the current employment level. Equinor's partners in the Sn ø hvit license include Petroro, TotalEnergies EP Norge, Neptune Energy Norge and Wintershall Dea Norge.

Geir Tungesvik, executive vice president of drilling and procurement for the Equinor project, said that Sn ø hvit Future would strengthen Norway's position as a reliable and long-term supplier of liquefied natural gas in Europe. Electrification will enable us to provide this gas in production with near zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Under normal production conditions, Hammerfest LNG Plant produces 18.4 million standard cubic meters of natural gas per day, or 6.5 billion cubic meters per year. Equinor claims that this is equivalent to meeting the energy demand of nearly 6.5 million European households, accounting for 5% of all Norwegian natural gas exports.Editor/Xing Wentao