Hammerfest LNG restart sees further delay
Norway's Equinor has again pushed back the restart date for the Hammerfest LNG export terminal, from March 31 until May 17, 2022, the company reported on January 31.
Hammerfest LNG was closed down after a serious fire in September 2020. Equinor initially said it would take until October 2021 to restart the 4.2mn metric ton/year facility, but then postponed the relaunch until 2022 "based on extensive analyses and mapping of damages."
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In its latest update, Equinor said progress had been affected by the latest wave of coronavirus infections and resulting restrictions. At times half of workers were in quarantine and isolation, plant manager Thor Johan Haave said.
"The project work is nearing completion and we're doing what we can to finish the project," he said. "We are pleased with the good cooperation we have with Hammerfest municipality, employee representatives, safety delegates and suppliers. Now it is all about completing the job together."
More than 22,000 components have been checked and 180 km of electrical cables replaced since the fire, Equinor said, with around 1,000 people working daily to get the plant up and running again. Repairs of advanced equipment and compressors have also been carried out as well as a planned turnaround and standard maintenance, it said.
Hammerfest LNG's downtime has contributed to the extreme tightness on the European gas market over recent months, which has led spot prices to soar to record heights. The terminal in Norway's far north is fed with gas from the Snohvit field in the Barents Sea.