The Hammerfest LNG-plant at Melk øya,Norway Image politeness Equinor

The Hammerfest LNG plant in Norway will certainly be shut for approximately year for repair services complying with a fire last month, its driver Equinor stated Monday.

The fire on September 28 harmed the air consumption on of the the plant’s 5 power wind turbines. Large quantities of salt water from the snuffing out have actually harmed various other complementary systems such as electric devices and also cords in the plant, Equinor stated.

No workers were harmed in the occurrence.

“It is the scope of work of this consequential damage that are considered the most extensive and the duration of the shutdown will depend on the delivery time of necessary equipment. Progress will also be affected by the current restrictions related to the Covid 19 virus,” the business stated in a declaration.

The Hammerfest LNG plant obtains and also refines gas from the Sn øhvit area in theBarents Sea The gas is after that cooled down to fluid, saved in storage tanks and also exported by means of LNG service providers. Interestingly, Sn øhvit is the initial growth in the Barents Sea and also initially significant growth on the Norwegian continental rack without surface area installments.

“Safety is the first priority and we will not start the plant until we are sure that it can be done in a safe way. Therefore, we have worked systematically and thoroughly to survey the damage after the fire, and assess the technical condition of the plant,” stated plant supervisor Andreas Sandvik.

“Although a lot of inspection work still remains and there is still significant uncertainty, our best estimate now is that that it may take up until 1 October 2021 to get Hammerfest LNG back into production,” Sandvik stated.

Equinor will certainly make use of the closure duration accomplish intended repair and maintenance benefit 2021. This consists of both recurring upkeep and also upkeep intended in a prepared turn-around following springtime, Sandvik stated.

Equinor, in addition to the PSA and also the authorities have actually begun independent examinations of the fire.

“The fire at Hammerfest LNG was a serious incident. The various investigations into the incident will be important in order to identify measures that will prevent similar incidents from happening again,” claims Grete B. Haaland, elderly vice head of state for Equinor’s onshore centers.