Subsea Gas Pipeline to Cross Polar Circle
Statoil awards Ramboll Oil & Gas the detailed design contract for the 36” & 18" pipelines for the 481 km-long Polarled project.
The Polarled pipeline project, which crosses the Polar circle, is part of the plans for developing fields further north in the Norwegian Sea. The purpose is to ensure gas transport capacity for gas volumes from planned and future field developments, such as the field developments of Aasta Hansteen, Linnorm and Zidane.
Part of the 36” Polarled pipeline will be installed at a water depth of 1.3 km which poses unique challenges during the installation where the pipeline will be free hanging from the installation vessel down to the seabed. The combination of pipeline size and water depth sets a new world record for deep water large diameter pipeline installation.
The Polarled pipeline will be installed on extremely uneven seabed with very large ice scours in the seabed. This entails numerous long free spans where the pipeline will require rock support or removal of peaks using specialised deep water seabed intervention equipment.
“We are extremely proud to have been awarded this major pipeline design contract which is the next step in our close cooperation with Statoil. The Polarled pipeline project draws on our extensive subsea pipeline experience together with our expertise within risk and safety engineering and geotechnical engineering. Furthermore, our environmental specialists have assisted Statoil with preparation of environmental impact assessment. The project will be executed employing expertise from our offices in Denmark, Norway, and India” says Lars Eriksen, Polarled project manager.