The power line between Skaidi and Hammerfest is highly contested in Hammerfest. The plan is for her to electrify the LNG plant on Melkøya. There was also talk of the power line electrifying the Wisting gas field in the Barents Sea, which was under investigation, but has now been postponed. Right now it is being processed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. – My clear thought is that a power line should not be the way it is planned. That establishment means quite a lot for our reindeer herding. It will come into immediate contact with a particularly important area in our reindeer herding district, says Utsi. The head of reindeer herding district 22, Nils Mikkelsen Utsi, would prefer to have a submarine cable. Then the pipeline will not go through reindeer grazing areas. Photo: Allan Klo / news His wish is a submarine cable, but Statnett says no to that. It will be too expensive. – The argument has been the electrification of Wisting and that rationale is starting to become very thin since it is being put on ice. Then the power line must also be put on ice, says the head of the reindeer grazing district, Nils Mikkelsen Utsi. The most important reason, Statnett says, is that the project is proceeding as planned. – We see that the electrification of Melkøya is still planned and that is the most important reason why this project should be carried out, says Statnett’s press officer, Christer Gilje. Statnett wants to expand in east and west Finnmark. Photo: Jarle Nyttingnes If Melkøya was not relevant, it would have been a different matter, they believe. – Electrification of Melkøya needs a lot of current and is planned in such a way that there is a need for such a power line. They don’t yet know what they will use the network capacity that was planned for Wisting for. – We have just learned that the decision on Wisting has been postponed and then we have to get some time to look at what else needs network capacity. Still needed You understand that there are quite a few who want a quick clarification as to whether they can be connected to electricity or not. – There are many people in the entire region who are planning to expand so that they need electricity. These power lines came up in the spring of 2022 and ran from Balsfjord to Skaidi. Now they want to build further. Photo: Allan Klo / news He points out that the electrification of Melkøya is the trigger for pipelines to be built. – There is still a need to build Skaidi – Hammerfest, he concludes. If the recommendation to the Ministry of Oil and Energy comes during 2023, the power line will be completed in 2028. Disputed power line The Labor Party, Center Party and Høgre in Hammerfest agree that a power line is needed from Skaidi to Hammerfest, even if Wisting is postponed. The FRP welcomes the line, even if they are not in favor of electrifying Melkøya. – If it is the case that you have to use electric power to run Wisting, then we are positive about that, says Arne Myrseth, group leader Hammerfest Frp. Arne Myrseth in the FRP in Hammerfest wants a power line, but not electrification of the plant on Melkøya. Photo: Allan Klo / news They are not against the line because they realize that they need electric power. – If there is no other societal need than Melkøya, then there is no need to build it. He mentions that several large and energy-intensive industries are being planned in Hammerfest municipality. Ingrid Petrikke Olsen, group leader in Hammerfest SV, says that they have been working on this case for a long time and that they are in favor of power management because it reduces emissions. Ingrid Petrikke Olsen believes that it is urgent to get power lines in place. Photo: Allan Klo / news – We have concluded that there are predominantly strong arguments for carrying out electrification, says Ingrid Petrikke Olsen, group leader in Hammerfest Sv. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy wrote in an e-mail to news: “In 2012, NVE granted Statnett SF a license to build and operate a new 420 kV power line from Balsfjord to Hammerfest. The decision was upheld and in 2015 the Ministry of Oil and Energy secured NVE’s decision for the Balsfjord-Skaidi section, while the appeal process for Skaidi-Hammerfest was postponed while waiting for closer needs assessments. The treatment of Skaidi-Hammerfest was taken up again against the background of Equinor’s analysis of the electrification of Hammerfest LNG on Melkøya. NVE sent an updated knowledge base and proposal to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy earlier this year. According to Statnett and NVE’s assessment, electrification of the LNG plant on Melkøya åleine will require a capacity increase in Hammerfest. The fact that the Wisting project has been postponed does not change this assessment. As the case is now pending in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, the ministry does not wish to comment on anything beyond this.”
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Wisting field postponed – will still have a power line to Hammerfest – news Troms and Finnmark
