Aibel: Troll Project at Peak of Construction Period

The Troll project is now at the peak of its construction period, Norwegian company Aibel said today. Around 850 Aibel employees and subcontract personnel are working on the new modules that will increase the lifetime of the Troll field.

Friday saw the last major lifting effort in Thailand. Section 514 was placed on the M11 module at Aibel’s yard in Laem Chabang.

”We’re in a heavy construction period. The most important things for us just now are quality and safety,” says Bruce McPherson, Project Manager at Aibel

The outfitting starts

Two years have passed since Aibel won the billion kroner contract for Troll. Two new compressors will expand the capacity on the Troll platform in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. Aibel is delivering three modules in the Statoil contract. The one being built in Thailand is compressor module M11.

”On Friday we lifted into place the last section of the upper level,” explains McPherson. In a few weeks the compressor equipment will be installed, before the top deck is lifted into place in November.

”The M11 will be shipped to Haugesund to have the crane installed before going out to the Troll field in the spring of 2014. In the meantime the outfitting of the module will take place. The remaining work includes finalisation of equipment, piping, electrical and instrumentation installation, and testing,” the Project Manager says.

A tall giant

The new compressors will make it possible to produce gas from the Troll field until the year 2063. The compressors will be powered by electricity from shore, and the platform will get a new power cable.

”The AC shore power will be converted to DC to minimise loss of power. On the platform it must be converted back to AC, and that will take place in the M13 module,” explains the Project Manager.

The M13 module with its auxiliary systems has reached its full height of 19 metres in the North Sea Hall in Haugesund.

”We’re in the process of outfitting on two levels, and insulating in the last one. ABB, the supplier of the power conversion equipment, has started to install it,” says McPherson.

The first of the modules, the M12 electric module, was hoisted aboard Troll A in June.

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Press Release, September 23, 2013