TotalEnergies weeks away from full capacity as its North Sea gas hub hits a snag

TotalEnergies EP Danmark, a subsidiary of France’s energy giant TotalEnergies, has run into an operational obstacle that is standing in the way of hitting full production capacity at its natural gas redevelopment project in the Danish sector of the North Sea.

Several days after the members of the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC), which entails TotalEnergies EP Denmark (operator, 43.2%), BlueNord (36.8%), and Nordsøfonden (20%), put all the pieces in place at the Tyra II facility to reach full operation, following the full technical capacity milestone, the operator disclosed an operational occurrence temporarily impacting the maximum production potential of the project.

According to the firm’s partner, BlueNord, a breaker failure in the electrical high-voltage system has temporarily cut parts of the power supply. As a result, the reduced power supply is affecting production at the fields within the Tyra hub.

Taking into account the expected delivery time for necessary replacement parts, the project’s full operational capacity is expected to be reached within the next four weeks. However, gas exports will continue in the interim period from the Harald field.

Miriam Lykke, Chief Operating Officer of BlueNord, commented: “Although this operational setback is of course disappointing, the operator has now fully assessed the situation and put in place a plan to implement the necessary corrective measures.

“We expect to restore full capacity within the next four weeks once the required parts are in place, and we fully believe that this one-off event does not undermine the long-term value and potential of Tyra II to our shareholders.”

Given the obstacle it is facing, the Tyra hub, which produced 15.1 mboepd in February, is now expected to produce 8–10 mboepd during Q1 2025 compared to the previous guidance of 17–20 mboepd.

Once it reaches its full operational capacity, the Tyra hub will return Denmark to being a net exporter of gas, supporting Danish and European supply security. The Tyra II project will produce and export gas from several fields, including Tyra East, Tyra West, Tyra Southeast, Harald, Valdemar, and Roar.

The gas is delivered to Europe through export pipelines to Nybro in Denmark and Den Helder in the Netherlands. The operator believes Tyra II will secure gas production with 30% fewer CO2 emissions than before the shutdown.

Meanwhile, TotalEnergies is pursuing other projects around the globe, including one with Eni, which allowed it to sign a deal with Cyprus and Egypt to develop an offshore project by exporting natural gas from the field off the coast of Cyprus through Egypt.