North Norwegian Company LNS Signs Major Contract with Equinor
LNS has been awarded a NOK 1.5 billion construction contract in connection with the electrification of the Melkøya LNG plant in Finnmark. “This shows that companies in Northern Norway also can assert themselves on the largest and most complex projects,” says Frode Nilsen, CEO of LNS.
Equinor has awarded a substantioal construction and installation contract worth some NOK 1.5 billion to Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner (LNS). This was stated in a press release on Thursday.
LNS will build a tunnel and landfall for the power cable that will run from Hyggevatn to Melkøya in Hammerfest municipality, Northern Norway. This infrastructure will allow power from Statnett’s transformer at Hyggevatn to be transmitted to Hammerfest LNG on Melkøya.
A power grid under pressure
In August 2023, the Norwegian government decided to electrify Equinor’s gas plant on Melkøya outside Hammerfest. The LNG plant receives and processes natural gas from the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea.
Melkøya is a gas-based power plant, but in the event of electrification, the plant will be powered by electricity from the transmission grid.
This electrification will require enormous amounts of electricity. At the same time, the power situation and the power grid in Finnmark county is already under pressure. When making the decision on electrification, the Norwegian government specified that this would be subject to both new infrastructure for electricity – and sufficiently increased renewable power production in Finnmark by 2030.
LNS estimates that about 70 per cent of the value added will go to Northern Norway.
North Norwegian contributions
“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.
CEO Frode Nilsen of LNS says they are happy and proud to have been awarded the contract.
“This shows that companies in Northern Norway can also assert themselves on the largest and most complex projects. We appreciate that Equinor sees the value of our expertise and what exists in our region,” says Nilsen.
In this project, LNS will collaborate with suppliers from all over Northern Norway, including Viggo Eriksen AS, Alta Anlegg AS, Jaro AS and Ofoten Mek AS.
Snøhvit Future and Hammerfest LNG
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.
Source: Equinor.
High North News is an independent newspaper published by the High North Center at Nord University in Bodø, Norway.
