Equinor is now partially powering North Sea Troll B and C platforms from shore, with the expectation that the electrification will reduce CO2 emissions from the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) by 250,000 tonnes/year (tpy). NOx emissions from the field are expected to fall by about 850 tpy.
Partial electrification, which began Sept. 7, is part of the operator’s plan for development and operation (PDO) for Troll West electrification (TWEL), which was approved by Norwegian authorities in 2021, the company said in a release Sept. 11 (OGJ Online, Apr. 23, 2021).
The power to Troll B and C comes from Kollsnes, northwest of Bergen, then runs through a new electro building shared by Troll and Oseberg fields out to Troll B in a 132 kV power cable, and from there to Troll C.
New modules have been installed on Troll B and C platforms that adjust voltage to systems on board. Processing and other energy-intensive systems on both platforms are now driven by electricity, except for the large export compressors, which are still gas-powered, Equinor said.
The TWEL project is continuing to fully electrify the Troll C platform so that all power needs are met with electricity from land. The measure will cut CO2 emissions by another 200,000 tpy, the company said. Overall, this will help cut almost 4% of the total emissions from oil and gas production, around 1% of total emissions in Norway, according to Equinor.
Infrastructure at Kollsnes and the cable to the platform are designed for a possible future full electrification also of Troll B.
The Troll A platform (Troll East) was the first platform to be powered from shore on the NCS and has been electrified since start-up in 1996.
Equinor is operator of the Troll Unit with 30.6%. Partners are Petoro (56%), A/S Norske Shell (8.1%), TotalEnergies (3.7%), and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS (1.6%).