Energy / Availability of power the ‘big uncertainty’ for Rosebank electrification plans
NO decisions have been made yet on plans to electrify Rosebank oil field production via a cable from Shetland – with availability of power a key issue.
However, speaking during a visit to Lerwick on Wednesday, officials from developer Equinor said electrifying production from shore power is still a major ambition.
Work continues on the oil and gas development to the north west of Shetland despite a court ruling which means the UK Government will have to re-consider the development’s approval following a challenge from climate campaigners.
Rosebank project director Aud Lisbeth Hove told Shetland News that work is “progressing according to plan”, with some structures already installed on the seabed and more deliveries of equipment coming into Lerwick Harbour.
The field is located around 130 kilometres north west of Shetland, and is the largest undeveloped oil field in the region – with expected resources estimated at more than 350 million barrels of oil equivalent.
First drilling is expected to take place in 2026.
With more shipments of equipment sitting in Lerwick for onward travel to the field, a delegation of Equinor officials toured the site at the Greenhead Base on Wednesday.
Hove was quick to praise the “excellent services” in the Shetland supply chain, while senior vice president for UK upstream activities Camilla Salthe said the word from locals was that the “ripple effect” of Equinor’s business in Lerwick has been felt in the economy too.
Meanwhile both officials suggested the court ruling – which was delivered earlier this year following a legal challenge by Greenpeace and campaign group Uplift – was positive, given that it allowed Equinor to continue with installation work.
The groups had argued that the decision to approve the development did not take into the account the effect on the climate of burning the oil and gas produced from the field.
Approval for Rosebank will have to be reconsidered to take into account those extra emissions, but Equinor can carry on with installation in the meantime.
“We are happy with the outcome,” Salthe said.
“Most important for us is of course that we can continue the job and continue with all the work that is ongoing and not have to cancel or postpone that.
“Of course we will deliver according to new guidelines that we expect to come shortly, and hopefully we’ll have everything in place for the production start-up, so I think we are as happy as we could be on the court case.”
There has already been significant investment in the project, which is 80 per cent owned by Equinor and 20 per cent by Ithaca Energy.
Hove said the spend up to now has been around £1.3 billion, with the total costs expected to reach £3 billion.
Around $150 million has also been put into refurbishing the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, which will take on board oil at the field and make it ready for tankers to collect.
This means oil will bypass Shetland, but gas will go into a new export pipeline and through the sweetening facility at Sullom Voe Terminal.
From there it will head into a new crossover pipeline and ultimately ending up at the St Fergus terminal on the Scottish mainland.
Work has been ongoing in Dubai on the Petrojarl Knarr FPSO, which is set to be renamed the Rosebank FPSO.
It is through the FPSO that power from Shetland comes into play, as the huge vessel will be ready to accept electricity to keep it running.
Rosebank does not need electrification for its production, but this is the ambition of Equinor – with Salthe saying it would greatly reduce the emissions of the development.
“This field here is actually lower than the average in the UK, without electrification,” she said.
“If we do electrification, it will be world class on the CO2.”
Salthe said the UK production average is 18kg of CO2 per barrel of oil equivalent. Rosebank without electrification would be 12kg, but if the FPSO had shore power this could drop to three kilograms.
But Hove said the future availability of power in Shetland is a key issue.
Shetland is now connected to the national grid via a HVDC subsea cable, which allows the 103-turbine Viking wind farm in the Central Mainland to export power.
There are three smaller onshore wind farms in the pipeline too, as are two large offshore ones, but the latter will be many years away.
A second HVDC cable between Shetland and the Scottish mainland has been proposed by SSE.
Demand for electricity in Shetland is set to increase through Sullom Voe Terminal being set to connect to the grid for the first time, and proposed hydrogen production too.
“The FPSO will be ready to receive power from shore but there are still uncertainties related to [whether] power will be available,” Hove said.
“So that is kind of the big uncertainty when it comes to electrification.
“I think there is kind of competition related to the available power here from Shetland. Although there is a lot of new power through these new wind farms, [there’s] many users and competition for power.
“So it still remains to be seen when it will become available for Rosebank.”
She said Equinor is working “very closely” with the regulator on the matter, who share a desire to see electrification.
“The ambition is still to do it – it’s just timing,” Salthe added.
She said talks have been held with “several” parties regarding electrification, “trying to look at the different routes to get there, but nothing is confirmed yet”.
“There are some things happening but it is still early days,” Salthe said.
When asked if she sympathises with the view of environmental protestors, Salthe said Equinor believes that oil and gas will be “part of the future for a long time, and the world will need that energy”.
“So for us it’s all about producing that with low as possible emissions,” she added. “So that is where we’re coming from.”
One company which is supporting the Rosebank work in Lerwick is logistics firm Peterson, which is assisting with the delivery of equipment into the Greenhead Base.
Its UK joint managing director Chris Coull said the company is “proud to work as part of the local supply chain” on the project.
“This is a large-scale, ambitious project which is important for energy security and will feed into a homegrown energy transition,” he said.
“The economic impact for Shetland is significant. It is projects like this which keeps our port operating, our cranes moving, and, most importantly, provides opportunities for skilled, sustainable, and local employment, as well as business for the many smaller local supply chain companies throughout the region.
“Here at Greenhead Base, our team of operatives has been busy with the 2025 phase of Rosebank and are ready to continue to support Technip, Equinor and partners to ensure the safe and efficient movement of goods critical to this project’s success.”
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