Aibel to construct platform concept of the future

December 16, 2022 | Oil & Gas | Energy Facts Staff Writer | 2min

Aibel has been awarded a contract by Aker BP for constructing the Munin platform (formerly Krafla) in the Yggdrasil area. The contract has a value of around NOK 7 billion.
The contract is an EPChc contract where Aibel is responsible for engineering, procurement and construction connected with delivering an unmanned process platform, also known as an UPP.

The project will be based on Aibel’s FEED (Front-End Engineering and Design) for Krafla UPP, now Munin, which was awarded in 2021. Key priorities for the project have been safety in design, minimal maintenance requirements and simplification of systems and functions on the platform using high-reliability equipment, automation, and digitalisation, applying a so-called “design to operate” philosophy.

Munin will not have a helicopter deck nor living quarters, and it will be the first process platform on the Norwegian continental shelf designed from start for ordinary operation without a crew.

Hence, the platform will have a relatively lean design, be operated from shore, and be available for maintenance with SOV (Service Operations Vessel). Munin will act as a production platform where the gas goes directly for export, while oil and water are directed into a shared pipe to the Hugin A platform (formerly NOA PdQ). Here, oil and water are separated, and the oil is exported by pipes to the Sture onshore terminal.

Project management, procurement and engineering services will mainly be carried out at Aibel’s Oslo office, with peak staffing of around 300 people. Construction will take place at Aibel’s yards in Haugesund and Thailand.

“We are proud and honoured to enter into a partnership with AkerBP,” says Aibel’s President and CEO, Mads Andersen. “With this contract award, we are once again consolidating our position as a leading supplier within critical infrastructure for the oil and gas industry. We really look forward to delivering on the UPP concept, which we have developed together with Equinor, and being among the pioneers of future platform solutions,” says Andersen.

The contract will be formalised with the signing at a ceremony at Aker BP on Friday morning. The development of the Yggdrasil area is subject to approval by the Norwegian Parliament.