Spanish yard cuts first steel for Equinor project

Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company Navantia has cut first steel for a module, which will be installed on Equinor’s Johan Sverdrup project located offshore Norway. 

In April 2018, Aibel was awarded a letter of intent for the construction of the processing platform topside for phase 2 of the Johan Sverdrup development. The contract included engineering, procurement and fabrication (EPC) work. Headed up from Aibel’s office in Asker, the work started immediately.

In December 2018, Navantia revealed it had been awarded a contract by Aibel for the construction of an HVDC substation module for the Johan Sverdrup phase 2 project.

Navantia announced that the first steel had been cut on Tuesday, August 6. The approx. 4000 t heavy module is being built at the Navantia Puerto Real yard.

According to the shipyard, the initial forecast estimates that the work will keep at least 350 workers busy during the construction period.

Johan Sverdrup is the biggest field development on the Norwegian continental shelf since the 1980s. The second Johan Sverdrup processing platform (P2) will extend production capacity on the field from 440,000 to 660,000 barrels of oil per day after startup, which is planned for 2022.

The second development phase has a capital expenditure of NOK 41 billion. In addition to construction of a new processing platform, the development will also include modifications of the riser platform, five subsea systems, and preparations for power supply from shore to the Utsira High in 2022.