Statoil and its partners in the Troll licence on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) decided in September to invest NOK 11 billion in two new compressors on Troll A. The two new compressors will enable Statoil to produce gas even faster and accelerate production at the Troll field by allowing for production with reduced wellhead pressure. The compressors will enable the production of gas from the field all the way until 2063. "The new pre-compressors on Troll A will be powered by electricity supplied from Kollsnes. This is the same solution as the first two pre-compressors, which are already installed. ABB also supplied the drivers for these compressors, and this experience means that we have very high expectations for safe and efficient implementation and a good working relationship with our operations," says Hans Jakob Hegge, Statoil's senior vice president for operations North Sea east. ABB will perform engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) related to the electric drive system on the Troll A platform. “We have established a good relationship with ABB which now has been further strengthened,” says Statoil’s chief procurement officer Jon Arnt Jacobsen. “For Statoil it is of importance to stimulate more diversity and to secure more EPC suppliers in the market. We are pleased that this supplier has now taken on the EPC responsibility, and we have high expectations for their deliverables.”
The performance of the electric motors has been increased from 44 to 50 MW, and is based on proven technology previously developed by ABB. Work under the contract will start immediately. Plant start-up at Kollsnes will take place in the second quarter of 2014, while contract completion is set for the beginning of 2015.
Statoil has already chosen Aibel as the key supplier for the engineering, procurement, onshore construction and integrated offshore construction and completion (EPCIc) for the upgrading of Troll A’s pre-compression capacity. The two new compressors form the final phase of the planned capacity expansion on Troll A. Troll has a production capacity and expected lifetime that far exceeds those of the other NCS fields. The new compressors also pave the way for the tie-in of gas from Troll West once oil production has come to an end. The two compressors will come on stream in 2015, and will enable Troll A to produce 120 million cubic metres per day up until 2018, ensuring the ability to produce 30 billion cubic metres annually until 2024.