Aker Solutions ready for work on another chapter in giant North Sea gas project’s story

Norway-based energy services provider Aker Solutions has been hired for topside modification assignment at a project that aims to bolster gas production from a giant oil and natural gas field in the northern part of the North Sea, which Equinor, a Norwegian state-owned energy giant, operates on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

Thanks to this new contract, starting right away and worth between NOK 0.5 billion (about $47.58 million) and NOK 1.5 billion (close to $142.8 million), Aker Solutions will handle the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning (EPCIC) work for the topside modification of the Troll A platform to accelerate production from the Troll West gas reservoir, as part of the second stage of the Troll Phase 3 (TP3 II) project. The work is scheduled for completion at the end of 2027.

Considered to be Norway’s largest gas field, Troll is said to supply 10% of Europe’s gas needs. The Norwegian firm’s job related to preparing the Troll A platform for receiving and processing gas from eight new wells at Troll West is not the only task it has been entrusted with, since it is also in charge of preparing and installing equipment for the clean-up of the initial well fluids during the start-up of the wells.

Paal Eikeseth, Executive Vice-president and Head of Aker Solutions’ Life Cycle segment, commented: “We are excited to continue following the significant development of the giant Troll field and to move forward with the next step of Troll Phase 3. In-depth knowledge of Troll A, the equipment on the asset, and the modifications made in the first phase is essential, providing a strong foundation for executing this new scope.”

Located in the North Sea, 80 km northwest of Bergen, the Troll field’s first stage was completed in 2021 with a new module on the Troll A platform to receive and process gas from the Troll West field. Aker Solutions, which completed the Troll A topside modification and provided the subsea systems for the field development in the first stage, is currently electrifying Troll West for the future, and also handles maintenance work on the platforms.

Troll Phase 3 involves producing the gas cap overlying the oil column in Troll West while continuing oil production, as the produced gas goes to Troll A and onwards to the existing infrastructure. Aker Solutions office in Stavanger with support from Bergen and Mumbai will take care of project management, detail engineering, procurement, and shop engineering.

On the other hand, the construction and prefabrication will be executed at the company’s yard in Egersund. OneSubsea, in which Aker Solutions owns a 20% stake, is also working on the same project to tackle the subsea production system.

“We will have the lead responsibility for the interfaces between contractors in this project and will leverage our experience as integrators in complex energy projects, focusing on delivering high-value and optimized solutions. We are honored to be a trusted contractor and look forward to continuing the close collaboration with Equinor on Troll,” highlighted Eikeseth. 

The job on Troll’s next phase comes a few months after Aker Solutions secured a multi-year contract win with Azule Energy to provide brownfield maintenance and modification scopes for two floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels in Angola.