Development Plans for Troll West Electrification Handed Over to the Authorities

Equinor and partners Petoro, Shell, Total and ConocoPhillips have decided in favour of Troll West electrification, and submit the plan for development and operation to the minister of petroleum and energy. The decision includes partial electrification of the Troll B platform and full electrification of Troll C in the North Sea.

This will cut CO2 emissions by almost half a million tonnes per year, i.e. the equivalent of more than three percent of total emissions from oil and gas production and one percent of total emissions in Norway. NOx emissions from the field will be reduced by some 1700 tons per year.

“Electrification is essential to successful reduction of the emissions from the NCS, and we have ambitious plans for this. The partnership’s decision to electrify Troll B and Troll C will cut emissions substantially. The Troll area will deliver enormous volumes of low-emission energy for many decades, adding great value for the companies and for Norway,” says Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s executive vice president for Development & Production Norway.

Capital expenditures total about NOK 7.9 billion. The project has been pledged a total of NOK 520 million in financial support from the Norwegian NOx fund.

“I am very pleased that we can realize Troll B and C electrification, a project that will help cut emissions on the NCS significantly. I am also pleased that we, in these challenging times, are able to sanction projects that help create great value for society and valuable activity for the suppliers. We expect that about 70 percent of the investments in this project will go to companies in Norway, says Arne Sigve Nylund, Equinor’s executive vice president for Technology, Projects & Drilling.

“The temporary changes to the petroleum tax regime adopted by Parliament as a result of Covid-19 have enabled us to implement several of the projects planned prior to the pandemic,” Nylund says.