Polish energy company ORLEN Group said on 19 December that almost two-thirds of its gas produced on the Norwegian Continental Shelf will be powered by renewables from onshore facilities and delivered with submarine power cables.
“For the ORLEN Group Norway is a key market when it comes to securing natural gas supplies to Poland. We are persistently developing our production portfolio on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. In November, we signed an agreement to buy KUFPEC Norway, thanks to which, starting next year, ORLEN Group’s natural gas production in Norway will increase by one-third, to over 4 billion cubic metres per year. Among the acquired assets is the Gina Krog field. Once the transaction is completed, our share in this field will increase from about 11 to 41 per cent,” said Daniel Obajtek, CEO of ORLEN.
ORLEN to increase gas output in Norway following key acquisition
Such a solution has already been applied to the platforms at the Gina Krog, Ormen Lange and Duva fields, which is estimated to reduce over 88,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2024.
“This year, the Gina Krog platform was connected to an onshore electricity grid powered by renewable energy, reducing carbon dioxide emissions associated with the operation of the Gina Krog installation by as much as 80 per cent in 2024. Thanks to that, after the finalisation of the acquisition of KUFPEC Norway, already two-thirds of our gas production in Norway will be carried out in a manner that ensures meeting ambitious climate targets set for the industry by Norwegian regulations,” said Mr Obajtek. “Thus, we are securing favourable conditions for our long-term presence on the Norwegian Shelf while at the same time achieving our strategic goals of increasing gas production and reducing carbon emissions associated with this activity.”
ORLEN and its license partners are also planning to connect the onshore grid with the Fenris field and the Yggdrasil complex, which are currently under development on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. It is estimated that this could cut around 1.6 and 9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over the commercial lifetime of the fields.