The process plant at Kollsnes in Øygarden is already one of Equinor’s most profitable. Here, gas comes ashore from five platforms in the North Sea. It is then pumped to four countries in Europe through long pipes. Over 40 percent of Norwegian gas is exported through Kollsnes. In March 2023, Equinor CEO Anders Opeda, NATO CEO Jens Stoltenberg, President of the European Commission Ursola von der Leyen and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre were at Troll A to talk about the importance of Norwegian gas. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB And the demand is enormous. After Russia invaded Ukraine, many European countries are trying to replace Russian gas with Norwegian. This is the reason why we have now gone through a complicated process to improve the facility north-west of Bergen. Enormous amount of energy In the control room at the terminal, Ragnvald Hordnes and his colleagues have a full overview of everything that comes in and out through the ducts. Ragnvald Hordnes and the others in the control room at Kollsnes manage large volumes of gas out to Europe. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news – After the Ukraine war started, we have become more aware that we are doing something important here, says the control room operator. 156 million cubic meters of gas now leave Kollsnes’ pipes every day. That is around 11.5 million more than before. This is as much energy as around 30 percent of the hydropower production in Norway. – In today’s gas prices, this is an extra income of NOK 50 million every day, says Bjarte Padøy, director of Equinor at the terminals at Sture and Kollsnes. – We now supply enough gas for 18 million households. Kristin Kinn Kaste, director of facility management at Gassco, believes the upgrade is important. Gassco is the state-owned company responsible for the transport of Norwegian gas. They are the operator of the facility at Kollsnes. – The upgrade helps strengthen Norway’s role as a reliable gas supplier to Europe. In the situation we have now, this is very important for European energy security, says Kaste. Two directors were satisfied with the upgrades at Kollsnes. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news Difficult upgrade – It has been a demanding process. But with the help of good cooperation, this has been done in record time, says Bjarte Padøy. The facility has been a bottleneck for the export of gas, but now has an increase in capacity of around 8 per cent. It has been particularly important to improve five of the six large compressors that send the gas in the pipelines to the south. But in order to cope with larger volumes, one has had to go through all parts of the facility. Although the work has been done in a shorter time than it would normally have been done, the director promises that it has not gone too quickly. – Safety is the most important thing, and we have taken care of it the whole way, says Padøy. He says it may be possible for other parts of the Equinor system to make similar upgrades as they have successfully completed at Kollsnes. This could mean constantly new export records in the future. Kollsnes in Øygarden municipality in Vestland Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news
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Exports an extra NOK 50 million every day – news Vestland
