Operator Statoil has signed a letter of intent with NCC Norge for blasting and levelling of the industrial site for the Snøhvit project at Melkøya off Hammerfest in Finnmark county.
A letter of intent has also been signed with the Veidekke and Selmer Skanska companies to construct a road and a 2.3 km subsea tunnel from Hammerfest to Melkøya. The contracts have a combined value of around NOK 700 million.
“This is one of the largest construction contracts on land in Scandinavia,” reports Morten Vinje, area manager in the Snøhvit organisation.
Most of the investments are related to the blasting and levelling of the industrial site. The work includes the construction of cooling water tunnels, a dock for the process plant and a quay.
Mr Vinje adds that the contracts are being awarded with the proviso that the Storting (parliament) approves the Snøhvit development, which will probably take place in March. He says that the purpose of awarding the contracts so early is to give the contractors time to plan the work and establish subcontractors.
Plans call for the work to begin immediately following the Storting’s ruling.
The levelling of the site is estimated to take one year. It will then be ready for the installation of process facilities and the four storage tanks – two for liquefied natural gas (LNG), one for liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) and one for condensate.
The LNG plant at Melkøya is planned to come on stream at the end of 2005.