Aibel wins EPCIC prize for Equinor’s latest gas field development

Aibel has won an engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning contract worth up to Nkr2.5 billion ($247 million) for Equinor’s Irpa gas field development offshore Norway, for which the national outfit this week submitted the development plan to the host government.

Norwegian contractor Aibel will perform extensive modifications to Equinor’s Aasta Hansteen platform for the tie-in of the Irpa satellite field, which was formerly known as Asterix.

The Irpa gas field is located 80 kilometres west of the Aasta Hansteen platform in the Norwegian Sea. The field will be developed as a tie-back to Aasta Hansteen with gas being exported via the 482-kilometre Polarled pipeline to the Nyhamna gas processing plant.

To handle production from Irpa, comprehensive modifications will be made to the Aasta Hansteen platform, which will also extend its lifespan by seven years. This includes integration work on the platform's existing processing equipment as well as construction and installation of an approximate 450-tonne monoethylene glycol (MEG) module.

Prefabrication and module assembly will take place at Aibel’s yards in Thailand and Haugesund, Norway.

Management and engineering will be performed at Aibel’s office in Stavanger with the support of its offices in Oslo and Singapore. The contractor noted the Irpa project would exploit synergies with its existing maintenance and modification contract for Aasta Hansteen, which is led by the Harstad, Norway, office.

Engineering work will start immediately, while the first offshore activities are expected in February 2023. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.

Aibel estimates the Irpa EPCIC contact will employ more than 200 people at peak.

The EPCIC contract was an option to follow Aibel’s Irpa front-end engineering and design contract to plan the Aasta Hansteen modifications in detail, that was awarded in 2021.

“The [latest] contract award is an acknowledgment to the organisation that has worked with the FEED. At the same time, it confirms Aibel’s leading position in modifications of infrastructure on the Norwegian continental shelf. We have a long history as main supplier within this area and look forward to providing an integrated solution in close cooperation with Equinor,” said Aibel chief executive, Mads Andersen.