On behalf of the Snøhvit partners, Equinor has awarded a substantial construction and installation contract worth some NOK 1.5 billion to Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner (LNS). LNS is headquartered in Andøy in Nordland county, and the contract will generate spinoffs for Finnmark, Troms and Nordland.

“We are pleased to award this contract to a company in Northern Norway. LNS estimates that around 70 percent of the generated value will end up in Northern Norway, creating about 200 person-years (FTEs) of employment. For Equinor, it has been important that the Snøhvit Future project should create ripple effects throughout the region,” says Trond Bokn, Equinor’s senior vice president for project development.

The Snøhvit Future project will strengthen Norway’s position as a reliable long-term supplier of gas produced with very low greenhouse gas emissions. The project will secure jobs in the north and energy supply to Europe towards 2050.

The project partners are Petoro, TotalEnergies, Neptune Energy and Wintershall Dea.

LNS will build a tunnel and landfall for the power cable that will run from Hyggevatn to Melkøya, in other words, an infrastructure allowing power from Statnett’s transformer substation at Hyggevatn to be transmitted to Hammerfest LNG on Melkøya.

As specialists in tunnelling, LNS has delivered several large-scale projects both in Norway and abroad, and construction work will start once the necessary approvals/permits have been received.

“This is LNS’s first assignment for Equinor. They submitted the best bid overall, and we look forward to working with a new supplier in the region. LNS also has a number of sub-suppliers, including Viggo Eriksen in Hammerfest, Alta Anlegg and Hörmann Norway in Tromsø,” says Mette H. Ottøy, Equinor’s chief procurement officer.

Multiconsult has already been awarded the engineering contract for the work to be performed by LNS. Managed from the company’s Tromsø office, offices from Alta in the north to Fredrikstad in the south are involved in the work. Multiconsult will also assist in the implementation of this work.

Nexans will supply the power cable from Rognan and Halden, while Aibel has been awarded the biggest contract covering all modification work on Melkøya. They have chosen the company Consto in Northern Norway as their supplier for construction and installation work on Melkøya.

Overall, the Snøhvit Future project is estimated to generate some 1700 person-years (FTEs) of employment in Northern Norway in the construction phase. The project will extend the productive life of Hammerfest LNG past 2030, thus securing the 900 FTEs of employment related to the operations of the plant in Northern Norway.

About Snøhvit Future:

• The Snøhvit Future project includes onshore compression and electrification of Hammerfest LNG on Melkøya. With compression, high gas exports, jobs and ripple effects can be maintained also after 2030. The electrification of the plant enables us to reduce emissions from the plant by 850,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
• In the development phase, Snøhvit Future will generate major ripple effects both in Finnmark and the rest of the country. Some 70% of the generated value will go to Norwegian companies, and more than one-third of this will go to Northern Norway.
• Three large modules will be installed at the plant: a compressor, a substation and electric steam boilers. Extensive modification work will also be carried out. In addition, there will be a lot of activity around Hammerfest, including the construction of a tunnel and transformer substation allowing power to be transmitted from Hyggevatn to Melkøya.

About Hammerfest LNG:

• Hammerfest LNG is a key company in the region with approximately 350 permanent employees, plus about 150 contractors and apprentices. Including spinoffs, HLNG generates almost 900 person-years (FTEs) of work in Northern Norway during normal operations. The Snøhvit partners are committed to ensuring that Hammerfest LNG will also be competitive and viable in a low-carbon society.
• Hammerfest LNG pays NOK 170 million in property taxes annually to Hammerfest municipality. Thanks to Snøhvit Future, the payment of these revenues to the municipality will continue beyond 2030 – increasing by about 30 percent.
• Hammerfest LNG provides 6.5 million households with electricity each day, the production from Melkøya accounting for 5 percent of Norway’s total exports.

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