News / Gas plant shut down
OIL AND GAS company Total has insisted that closing down its brand new £800 million Shetland Gas Plant for short periods of time was part of the normal commissioning process.
The industry website oilandgaspeople.com reported on Wednesday that the gas plant has been offline for three days due to “a serious issue with compressor alignment”, a week after first gas was announced.
A Total spokesman did not go into any detail but said: “Short periods of being offline are normal during the early stages of a new facility’s operational life as we make sure potential teething issues are identified and dealt with.”
He later added: “Total’s Shetland Gas Plant was shut-down for a planned operation. There will be several of these planned shut-downs in order to fine tune and optimise the equipment.
“The shut-down has now ended and production will recommence later today.”
The £3.3 billion Laggan-Tormore project, of which the Shetland Gas Plant is an integral part, came on stream last Monday.
The facility is seen as crucial in enhancing Britain’s energy security with eight per cent of the UK’s gas demand potentially coming from these two west of Shetland gas fields.
Work to further increase this percentage is already under way with the development of the two smaller gas reservoirs Edradour and Glenlivit.
Next week, Shetland Islands Council’s planning board will discuss an application by Total to install a condensate mercury recovery unit within the new gas plant, which is needed to accommodate the extra throughput expected from these gas fields.
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