Equinor to cut emissions in Norwegian Continental Shelf with steam turbines
(WO) – Statfjord C will change its power solution to cut emissions. A new steam turbine will produce electricity based on surplus heat from two gas compressors. This will make energy consumption more efficient and cut 25% of total annual CO2 emissions on Statfjord C, equivalent to 50,000 cars.
Scheduled for start-up in 2026, the new steam turbine will give cost-effective emission cuts. It will be the first time this solution is introduced on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).
“Heat recovery for electric power production has been used on new fields, both on the NCS and internationally. Now, for the first time, the solution is introduced in a mature field in production. This is possible due to the development of low-weight solutions,” says Ketil Rongved, Equinor’s vice president for FLX projects.
The project also involves electrification of water injection and emission cuts related to other energy intensive processes on Statfjord C. The project, named “FLX Future Energy,” was decided by the Statfjord partnership in July.
This project is one of many measures to cut emissions from production at Statfjord. For instance, a heat recovery unit on Statfjord B has cut CO2 emissions by 20,000 tonnes every year since 2021.
Field Life eXtension (FLX) is a unit in Equinor that is responsible for late-life fields. Its purpose is to optimize the fields’ operations and economy through new ways of working, with safety as its main priority.
The technical solution of the FLX Future Energy project does not require power supply from shore. The solution is called low weight bottoming cycle (LWBC). By introducing it on Statfjord C, two of the existing gas turbines can be shut down. The project will enable Statfjord C to deliver oil and gas with a quarter of the current carbon footprint (25 per cent reduction in total emissions).
In 2021, a new waste heat recovery unit (WHRU) was installed on Statfjord B, reducing CO2 emissions from the platform by 20,000 tonnes per year.
The licence partners in the Statfjord Unit are: Equinor Energy AS (40.17028%), Okea ASA (23.93123%)*, Vår Energi ASA (21.36717%), Equinor UK Ltd (14.53131%)
