Equinor and partners Petoro, Shell, Total and ConocoPhillips have decided in favour of Troll West electrification, and today submit the plan for development and operation to the minister of petroleum and energy. The decision includes partial electrification of the Troll B platform and full electrification of Troll C in the North Sea.
This will cut CO2 emissions by almost half a million tonnes per year, i.e. the equivalent of more than three percent of total emissions from oil and gas production and one percent of total emissions in Norway. NOx emissions from the field will be reduced by some 1700 tons per year.
“Electrification is essential to successful reduction of the emissions from the NCS, and we have ambitious plans for this. The partnership’s decision to electrify Troll B and Troll C will cut emissions substantially. The Troll area will deliver enormous volumes of low-emission energy for many decades, adding great value for the companies and for Norway,” says Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s executive vice president for Development & Production Norway.
Capital expenditures total about NOK 7.9 billion. The project has been pledged a total of NOK 520 million in financial support from the Norwegian NOx fund.
“I am very pleased that we can realize Troll B and C electrification, a project that will help cut emissions on the NCS significantly. I am also pleased that we, in these challenging times, are able to sanction projects that help create great value for society and valuable activity for the suppliers. We expect that about 70 percent of the investments in this project will go to companies in Norway, says Arne Sigve Nylund, Equinor’s executive vice president for Technology, Projects & Drilling.
“The temporary changes to the petroleum tax regime adopted by Parliament as a result of Covid-19 have enabled us to implement several of the projects planned prior to the pandemic,” Nylund says.
Development solution
The subsea cable to the Troll B and C platforms will have a landfall at Kollsnes in Øygarden west of Bergen. A high-voltage subsea cable will run from Kollsnes to Troll B, and one from Troll B to Troll C.
Troll West electrification includes full electrification of Troll C, and partial electrification of Troll B. This means that both platforms’ current power demand will be met from shore. In addition, the two gas export compressors on Troll C currently driven by gas turbines will be replaced by electric motors. The infrastructure at Kollsnes and cable out to the platform will be designed for a possible future full electrification also of Troll B.
The Troll A platform, which came on stream in 1996, was the first electrified installation on the NCS.
