The matter in summary: The Støre government has given Equinor the go-ahead to electrify the gas plant on Melkøya by 2030, which has met with criticism. The plant on Melkøya is currently powered by a gas-fired power plant, which accounts for the third largest single emission of carbon dioxide per year in Norway. Electrification will cut the emissions of greenhouse gases by 850,000 tonnes, but there is great skepticism in Northern Norway due to fear of power shortages and major natural encroachments. The government’s plan includes a large-scale development of wind power in Finnmark and development of the power grid in the north. The project that will provide electricity to Melkøya has been named “Snøvit future”. In total, Equinor believes the project will employ around 1,700 man-years in Northern Norway during the construction phase. And now the first contract has been awarded to the contractor Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner (LNS). The company, with headquarters on Andøya in the north of Nordland, will build a tunnel and landing for the power cable that will run from Hyggevatn in Hammerfest and out to Melkøya. The contract has a value of NOK 1.5 billion and is expected to create 200 man-years. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Criticism rained down after the Støre government in the election campaign last year gave Equinor the go-ahead to electrify the gas plant on Melkøya outside Hammerfest by 2030. In the Center Party, several believed that the decision ruined the election campaign. The government itself believes the measure is “the largest single climate measure ever decided by a Norwegian government”. The plant on Melkøya is currently powered by a gas-fired power plant, which accounts for the third largest single emission of carbon dioxide per year in Norway. By operating the plant with electricity from land, emissions of greenhouse gases will be cut by 850,000 tonnes. But in northern Norway there is great skepticism. The fear is both power shortages and major natural disasters. The electricity needed must be sourced from land – in a part of the country where companies are already queuing up to connect to the electricity grid. Many companies are also refused. Electrification of the gas plant on Melkøya will require 410 megawatts. This corresponds to 3.6 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year. That is roughly the same amount as the whole of Finnmark uses today. Electrification of Melkøya Photo: Allan Klo / news At a press conference in Hammerfest on Tuesday 8 August, the government presented a plan for the electrification of the gas plant on Melkøya. One of the government’s main messages is that the electrification will facilitate the operation of the plant on Melkøya to be maintained until 2040. They describe the electrification as “the largest, single climate measure ever decided by a Norwegian government, and a historic power and industrial boost for the northernmost part of our country – where we are completely dependent on a strong civilian presence”. The electrification will lead to a sharp increase in electricity consumption in the area. The government writes that conversion from gas to full operation with power from the grid means an increase in power consumption on Melkøya of 360 MW. At the same time, it was made clear that the aim is to build out the much disputed 420 kV line between Skaidi and Hammerfest, and then to Varangerbotn in Eastern Finnmark. The government will assume that electrification will take place in 2030. If sufficient power production has not been developed by that time, the gas power plant will be able to continue as it is today until 2033. Will develop more wind power The government’s plan is a large-scale development of wind power in Finnmark . In addition, they want to expand the power grid in the north. The reward for Northern Norway must also be jobs. The project that will provide electricity to Melkøya has been named “Snøvit future”. In total, Equinor believes the project will employ around 1,700 man-years in Northern Norway during the construction phase. And now the first contract has been awarded to the contractor Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner (LNS). The company, with headquarters on Andøya in the north of Nordland, will build a tunnel and landing for the power cable that will run from Hyggevatn in Hammerfest and out to Melkøya. The contract has a value of NOK 1.5 billion and is expected to create 200 man-years. According to Equinor, the contract will have ripple effects in both Finnmark, Troms and Nordland. – Happy and proud LNS is in a good mood after they have been assigned the assignment. – We are both happy and proud to have been awarded the contract. This shows that even northern Norwegian companies can claim the largest and most complex projects. We appreciate that Equinor sees the value of our expertise and what is available in our part of the country, says CEO of LNS, Frode Nilsen. Frode Nilsen at LNS is proud that his company has been awarded the contract. Photo: Kathrine Mørkved / news The Hammerfest Business Association is also satisfied. – We are very happy that the Snøhvit Future project has started, and the award of the contract is on the way. We are getting very strong signals from many people in the business world in Hammerfest that people are really looking forward to the big move, and the increased activity that we can expect locally in the future, says director Lars Bjørkli. He is happy that the contract is being awarded to a Northern Norwegian company. – We would like to see that we had larger players locally who could have served it, but when that is not necessarily the case, it is important that the contract ends up in Northern Norway. – Unrealistic But in order for electricity to flow into the cable from Hyggevatn, large amounts of wind power must be developed in Finnmark. With the Fosen verdict fresh in mind, there are several who believe it will be difficult to achieve by 2030. – I consider it completely unrealistic to cut emissions by 2030, says Odd Levy Harjo, assistant director of Alta Kraftlag. Nor does the mayor of Narvik think it is possible. The government itself has taken this into account by retaining the option to operate the plant with the existing gas turbines, even after electrification. They have also guaranteed that Melkøya will not be electrified if it affects other industries. But that hasn’t calmed the mood significantly. 2 out of 3 Northerners are negative When news asked Northerners in August last year about their point of view on electrification, there was great opposition. Two out of three of those asked in the poll answered no to whether it was right to electrify Melkøya. Only around 15 percent were in favor. There has also been a lot of grumbling in the Center Party. County leader Frank Johnsen in Nordland was called by frustrated individual members of the party, people from the local teams and Center Party mayors in Northern Norway after the news became known. They believe that the government’s decision violates the Center Party’s own policy. They fear: That the electrification of Melkøya will take important power from other industrial projects in northern Norway. That the development of the power grid to get enough power to Melkøya will exceed the development of the power grid elsewhere in the region. That the development of power generation and networks will destroy nature and reindeer grazing areas.
ttn-69
Equinor awards a multibillion-dollar contract to get electricity to Melkøya – news Nordland
