Norwegian state-owned Equinor has temporarily suspended production at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Hammerfest, Norway. Hammerfestalso known as Melkoeya LNG, following a technical incident over the weekend. The cause was an overheating in one of the system’s electrical transformers, which forced an unplanned shutdown.
Possible reactivation of the LNG plant in Hammerfest
According to information released by Equinor through Gassco’s notification system, the outage began on Saturday afternoon and it was expected that operations could resume on Monday at 21:00 GMT. This plant accounts for approximately 5% of total Norwegian gas exports, making it a strategic part of the European energy supply.
The Hammerfestlocated in the Norwegian Arctic, has an estimated annual capacity of 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas, enough to supply some 6.5 million homes in Europe on a daily basis. Just a few weeks ago, on August 4, it had completed an extensive maintenance process that lasted 15 weeks.
Risks and European energy context
This technical outage highlights the vulnerability of vulnerability of key energy infrastructures to unforeseen This technical outage highlights the vulnerability of key energy infrastructures to unforeseen events, especially in a context where Europe is seeking to diversify its supply sources in the wake of recent geopolitical imbalances.
So far, no major damage or environmental impacts have been reported. The company indicated that it is working with its technical teams to ensure that the plant returns to safe and stable operation.
Source: Offshore Engineer
Photo: Equinor
