Equinor has informed the Norwegian Ministry of Energy that it plans to discontinue its electrification efforts in the Halten and Snorre areas, although it plans to continue the Grane-Balder energy project
The Grane-Balder energy project is an integration effort designed to enable gas production, increase and accelerate oil production, and reduce emissions from the Grane, Jotun, and Ringhorne installations. The project includes electrification of the Grane and Balder fields in an effort to reduce emissions and extend field lifetimes.
The company said its decision to halt the electrification efforts at Halten and Snorre “is based on a lack of profitability and high abatement costs in these projects, driven by general cost increases in the industry and uncertainty around political support for the measures.”
Equinor reiterated that it still considers electrification to be important but pointed out that it “must be balanced against economic sustainability and long-term value creation.”
Energy efficiency measures, including electrification, are responsible for Equinor reducing its emissions by more than 30% since 2015, the company said. Equinor has previously said it plans to reduce its emissions by 50% by 2030 and says that goal remains.
In 1996, Equinor’s Troll A platform became the first platform on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) to be electrified. The Gjøa field was electrified from its beginning in 2010. For that, Equinor laid a 100-km-long cable from Mongstad, Norway, onshore to the field.
Also electrified from shore is the Johan Sverdrup field. Equinor credits this electrification effort with the field’s low emissions, saying it produces CO2 emissions of only 0.67 kg/bbl of oil produced. Equinor points out that the average emissions from production is 9 kg/bbl of oil produced on the NCS and 15 kg/bbl of oil produced globally.
Equinor also uses wind to power its platforms. Wind power from the Hywind Tampen project, the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm, provides power to the Gullfaks and Snorre platforms.