Equinor said that it has given a NOK400 million worth ($42 million) engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract to Wood for the MEG Upgrade project at the Kollsnes gas processing plant in Norway, on behalf of the operator Gassco.

As per the EPCI contract, Wood will upgrade the mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) regeneration handling capacity at the Kollsnes processing facility where Equinor is the technical service provider.

Three new modules will be installed at the Norwegian gas processing plant, which includes a MEG train, a chiller package, and a MEG export pump.

The Kollsnes gas processing plant, which is situated in the Øygarden municipality, west of Bergen, processes the gas produced from the Troll, Kvitebjørn, Visund, and Fram fields. The gas processing plant, which opened in 1996, has a daily processing capacity of up to 144.5 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of natural gas.

Bjarte Padøy – Kollsnes processing plant manager said: “The project will help maintain high regularity and maximum capacity at the plant in a long-term perspective and will further strengthen the work environment and safety in MEG handling at Kollsnes. I am also pleased that this will increase activity at Kollsnes, which is important to the region.”

The EPCI contract for the MEG Upgrade project includes options for potential future work.

According to Equinor, the work associated with the contract will begin this month with installation and completion at the Kollsnes gas processing plant during 2022/23.

The contract is anticipated to result in nearly 150 man-years during the life of the project, said Equinor.

Wood’s office in Sandefjord will carry out management and engineering work with support from its global organization.

The fabrication and construction contract has been awarded to Kværner with the work to take place at the Stord yard. Under the subcontract, Kværner will also undertake the installation work at the Kollsnes processing plant.

Lars Fredrik Bakke – Wood senior vice president in Norway said: “Delivering the MEG upgrade at the Kollsnes process plant allows us to leverage our market-leading expertise in downstream processing to support Equinor’s technical operations of this critical piece of onshore energy infrastructure, through which 40% of all Norwegian gas export flows.”

“Our breadth of experience in the Norwegian energy sector and our close client partnership positions us for continued growth in the downstream sector, both with Equinor and across the broader Norwegian market.”

  Bjarte Padøy, Equinor, Gassco, Kollsnes processing plant, Lars Fredrik Bakke, Norway, Øygarden, Wood