Aibel was awarded the giant project in April 2018 and around 4,000 employees have undertaken approx. 20 million man-hours designing, building and completing the 25,000-tonne P2 platform. On Tuesday, Aibel handed over the platform to Equinor and celebrated the milestone with a sailaway ceremony for employees, guests, and the media.
"I am incredibly proud and impressed when I see this amazing construction. In close collaboration with Equinor, our competent engineers have produced more than 60,000 drawings, which has formed the basis for our world-class skilled workers to build and assemble the platform. Even though we have been through a pandemic, we now deliver the project on time and budget, and most importantly, without serious incidents. This is a great example of the execution capabilities that has been developed in the Norwegian energy industry," says Mads Andersen, President and CEO of Aibel.
Among the speakers was Arne Sigve Nylund, Executive Vice President for Projects, Drilling and Procurement in Equinor, who pointed out that the P2 platform is a clear proof of what the competent and competitive supplier industry in Norway can accomplish.
The mayor of Haugesund, Arne-Christian Mohn, was impressed by the delivery and said that the entire Haugesund is proud of Aibel, who has the world's best skilled workers and Norway's best engineers.
After the speeches, which also included posts from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and CEO of Petoro, Kristin Kragseth, on behalf of the license partners, the mooring line to the barge with the platform was cut. As soon as the weather allows for it, the platform will be towed to Digernessundet where the heavy lift vessel Pioneering Spirit will lift the platform off the barge and bring the giant to the Johan Sverdrup field 140 kilometres west of Stavanger.
Important project during a demanding period
The P2 platform is the second processing platform for the Johan Sverdrup field, which now comprises five platforms. Since 2015, Aibel has secured Johan Sverdrup contracts worth more than NOK 25 billion, including the delivery of the drilling platform and the two onshore power plants at Haugsneset that supply the field and the rest of the Utsira High with power from shore.
"The Sverdrup development has been important for the Norwegian supplier industry. This giant project was sanctioned during a historically challenging period for the industry and was instrumental in maintaining competence and capacity in the Norwegian supplier industry. For Aibel, the contracts have also served as a catalyst to strengthen and further develop the collaboration with Equinor. Several joint improvement initiatives have been implemented, which have resulted in a number of sustained improvements, not least within safety, digitalisation and the use of new technology," explains Andersen.
Offshore wind projects coming to Haugesund
Aibel has come far in the ongoing energy transformation and more than half of the order backlog is related to renewable energy and low carbon solutions. The company is a leader in electrification of the NCS and has established a solid position in the European offshore wind industry. Four offshore converter platforms for offshore wind farms in Europe are under delivery. Three of the platforms will be installed in the world's largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farm, and one will go to the DolWin area outside Germany, where Aibel's first wind platform DolWin beta is also located. The first of these four new platforms, Dogger Bank A, is approaching sailaway from Aibel's yard in Thailand, after which it will arrive at the yard in Haugesund in early summer for completion.
Published 01 March 2022
