The decision, which became known today, did not come unexpectedly. It is just over a year since Statnett announced that they wanted to extend the crucial power line from Skaidi to Hammerfest. At the time, Equinor said it was continuing planning for an all-electric liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant. Last year, they estimated that the price tag would be NOK 4 billion. It has caught on: Now they are prepared to invest 13.2 billion. The aim is to become fully electric from 2028. This is roughly what it will look like on Melkøya when the plant will receive electricity from the power grid. New facilities are marked in green. Illustration: Equinor Power from the power grid was not a possible solution when the factory on Melkøya was built. They had to have their own gas power plant, and it became the largest point emission of CO₂ in Norway: Around 850,000 tonnes a year – which corresponds to the emissions from over 400,000 fossil-fuel cars. Extends the lifetime The upgrade means that Equinor can extend the lifetime of the LNG factory. – Electrification will mean that we supply this gas with almost zero greenhouse gas emissions from production. The project ensures long-term operation and exports from Melkøya towards 2050, says CEO Geir Tungesvik in a press release. The company expects that Norwegian companies will be responsible for 70 percent of the work. The development ensures that the 420 kilovolt power line can be extended to Hammerfest. Equinor believes that it facilitates other industries to establish themselves in the city. Executive director Geir Tungesvik is happy about the big CO2 cut. Photo: Equinor Fears Melkøya suction In Eastern Finnmark, the mood is different. There, several players fear that Melkøya will gobble up so much electricity that there will be too little left for other industrial establishments. There are plans for a 420 kilovolt power line across Finnmark. But it is not certain that it will help much, says Terje Skansen, managing director of Varanger Kraft. – The plans for the electrification of Melkøya will have some critical consequences for future industrial development in Eastern Finnmark. It will steal so much capacity in the network that there will not be enough left, Skansen told High North News earlier this year. An ammonia factory is planned in Berlevåg, which will be operated by the local wind power plant at Raggovidda. The factory still needs a better power grid to ensure balancing power and enough voltage, says business developer Kjell Richardsen. He fears that Melkøya will stand in the way of the venture. Want carbon capture Both Richardsen and Bellona’s Frederic Hauge believe the oil industry should rather invest in carbon capture and storage (CCS). – It is far better to use CCS to clean Melkøya than to electrify. Someone should also read the Fosen judgment before they think they will be able to run a 420 kV line over the Skaidi reindeer herding district, Hauge said at a conference in November, according to Energiwatch. The Fosen judgment states that the wind power plant has received an illegal license from the state, and that the development infringes the rights of the reindeer husbandry industry. Reindeer herders in the area have demanded that the development of the power line from Skaidi towards Hammerfest be put on hold. High electricity price? Several politicians have also expressed fear that electricity prices in northern Norway will skyrocket when Melkøya gets its way. Storting representative Geir Jørgensen (Rødt) brought up electrification in the Storting’s question time this spring. – The citizens of Finnmark have good reason to wonder what the authorities think this will mean for power development, the reduction of nature, electricity prices and access to electricity for business and households, said Jørgensen. The energy minister could not say anything precise about how the electricity prices would go, but admitted that Melkøya itself would raise them. – A simultaneous realization of new power production in northern parts of the Nordic region pulls in the opposite direction. It is difficult to say what impact an operation with power from the network of Hammerfest LNG and Wisting will have on the power price, said Marte Mjøs Pedersen at the time. The Wisting development was later put on hold.
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The LNG factory on Melkøya will become electric – news Troms and Finnmark
