Aibel reports that the company has secured a Feed contract with Equinor worth 130 million to do the initial design and engineering work for the electrification project at Kårstø.
There are two options in the contract, including a total contract for the implementation of the entire project.
Given that the owner Gassco, the operator Equinor and the other partners are moving forward with the project, Aibel is thus in a position to secure what they call a “contract of significant size”.
By that, they mean a contract of “over 2.5 billion kroner”, according to the company.
Initially, an average of 85 people will be put on hold at Aibel’s offices in Haugesund during the Feed phase. If there is a green light for the entire project, the scope will increase significantly – then the project will at most employ around 600 people.
– This award confirms Aibel’s leading position in the electrification of Norwegian offshore and onshore oil and gas installations. We are proud to be able to contribute to reduced emissions in line with the industry’s ambitions, says CEO Mads Andersen of Aibel in a statement.
Investment decision may come next year
The announcement from Aibel states that an investment decision, with an associated total contract, is scheduled to take place at the turn of the year 2022/2023.
The so-called Kårstø Electrification Project is just one of several large electrification projects that are either under construction or planning in the Norwegian oil industry.
Electrification is seen by the industry as one of the most important climate measures they can take for their emissions in Norway. Less emissions will also shield the industry from the announced increase in the CO2 price on the Norwegian shelf, which according to the plan will more than double to NOK 2,000 per tonne in 2030.
Electrification is also controversial. Critics point out that the measures are expensive and that the gas that is no longer burned at the plants is exported and emitted by customers in Europe.
In addition to Kårstø, work is underway to electrify Sleipner, Melkøya and Troll, among others, as well as a number of fields on Utsirahøyden, Wisting in the Barents Sea and others.
Considering listing Aibel on the stock exchange
Aibel is a large supplier group that is particularly large in oil service and renewable energy. Among other things, the company is behind several large installations on the Johan Sverdrup field and has also won contracts for deliveries of converter platforms to offshore wind projects such as Dolwin, Hywind Scotland and Doggerbank.
Aibel’s three major shareholders – the Andresen family’s Ferd (50 per cent), the Ratos fund (32 per cent) and the Swedish pension fund Sixt AP (18 per cent) – announced earlier this year that they are considering listing Aibel.
In total, more than 4,000 people work in the Aibel Group, which owns two large shipyards in Haugesund and Thailand.
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