Equinor's Hammerfest LNG plant restart delayed 6 months

London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - The restart of Norwegian energy giant Equinor's 18 million cubic metres per day LNG plant at Hammerfest will be delayed by an additional six months to the end of March 2022 following a fire at the plant last year, the company said Monday.

After the fire in September, the plant was due to resume operations in October this year, but due to the comprehensive scope of work and Covid-19 restrictions, the revised estimated start-up date has now been set to 31 March 2022.

Gas is supplied to Hammerfest from the Snoehvit field which is around 160km away in the Barents Sea.

The field has also been shut down since the Hammerfest accident.

The most time-consuming repairs would be the replacement of more than 180 km of electric cable, which is due to arrive by this summer, Equinor said.

Other equipment will not arrive before the summer or autumn, while several compressors needed to be removed and sent to the supplier for repair, the company added.

"There is still some uncertainty related to the scope of work, however our best start-up estimate is 31 March 2022, based on current knowledge," said Grete Haaland, Equinor's senior vice president for onshore plants.