Aker Solutions Bags Contract from Shell to Service Norway Gas Facility

Aker Solutions ASA said it has secured a “sizeable” contract from Shell plc to provide brownfield modification services and maintenance support for the Nyhamna facility in Norway.

Shell has executed an option to extend the framework agreement with Aker Solutions for another four years, until September 2028. The scope of the contract includes maintenance and modification services on the onshore Nyhamna natural gas processing plant in Aukra, Aker Solutions said in a news release Tuesday.

The contract will be booked as part of Aker Solutions' third-quarter order intake. The company defines a sizeable contract as between $0.05 billion and $0.14 billion (NOK 0.5 billion and NOK 1.5 billion).

The Nyhamna facility serves the Ormen Lange field in the Norwegian Sea and is connected to the Polarled pipeline. According to the facility operator Gassco AS, which transports Norwegian gas to continental Europe and the United Kingdom through a network of pipelines, Nyhamna has an export capacity of 84 million standard cubic meters [2.97 billion standard cubic feet]of gas per day. Shell is the technical service provider for the facility. Aker Solutions said it has delivered projects and provided services to Nyhamna since 2007.

"This contract will be included in our already strong backlog built on long-term customer relations”, Aker Solutions Executive Vice-President and Head of Life Cycle Paal Eikeseth said. “We're pleased that Shell is giving us renewed trust to be its main contractor on this significant facility, and look forward to continuing the successful collaboration”.

"This extension secures work for our employees on site at Nyhamna, our engineering office in Kristiansund, and it will provide ripple effects to local subcontractors and others", Eikeseth added.

Yggdrasil, Valhall PWP-Fenris Construction

In other work, Aker Solutions announced the start of the construction phase of Yggdrasil and Valhall PWP-Fenris, two large offshore development projects on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, with the cutting of the first steel plates for Hugin A and Valhall PWP at the company’s Stord yard.

Aker Solutions and alliance partners in December 2022 signed contracts with Aker BP worth a total value for Aker Solutions of close to $4.62 billion (NOK 50 billion), which was the company’s highest-ever quarterly order intake, according to an earlier news release.

“These projects contribute high-value creation and extensive ripple effects across the entire industry. Aker Solutions will have recruited more than 2,000 new colleagues in Norway, in addition to 100 new apprentices every year, going forward”, Aker Solutions Executive Vice-President for New Build Sturla Magnus said.

“After years of engineering and preparations, we are now entering the construction phase. These projects will involve hundreds of suppliers and provide large ripple effects in the form of revenue and jobs in local communities throughout large parts of Norway”, Magnus added.

Hugin A is part of the Yggdrasil development and consists of a 28-metric-ton production platform and a 20,500-metric-ton steel jacket that will be delivered from the Aker Solutions yard in Verdal. In addition to Stord and Verdal, Aker Solutions’ yards in Egersund and Sandnessjoen will build modules. Valhall PWP is a 16,000-metric-ton production platform for the Valhall field that will be assembled at Stord. The 9,500-metric-ton steel jacket will be delivered from Verdal, according to the release.

Aker Solutions said it also has considerable subsea and modification deliveries to the Yggdrasil and Valhall PWP-Fenris fields.

“In the transition to an industrial future of more renewable energy projects, these large installations give Aker Solutions the opportunity to plan long-term. Through a series of upgrades of our yards and facilities, extensive competence-building measures, and considerable investments in digitalization, robotization, and other technology, we improve our efficiency in the execution of these projects and strengthen our competitiveness. This will also provide a solid foundation, as we gradually increase our activity aimed at renewable energy markets”, Magnus said.

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