Hima-Sella has been awarded a £6m contract to renew some of the major safety equipment at the Kårstø gas plant in southern Norway. The contract is awarded by Statoil Hydro on behalf of operator, Gassco. Statoil Hydrois assisted by MW Kellogg as the EPCA contractor on the project, as it has been on three previous expansions at this facility. This work follows on from a £1m contract successfully completed in 2004. Major work should be finished in 2010 with the project scheduled for completion in 2012.

Located 60km north of Stavanger, the Kårstøplant serves thirty major gas fields and processes more than 30% of all gas exported from Norway into Europe. The plant’s significance to the Norwegian economy means that the technical services provider, Statoil, has decided that only the most reliable and cost effective systems can be used.

Hima-Sella will be upgrading systems originally installed by HIMA 20 years ago. The work will be in three areas – ESD (emergency shut down systems), HIPPS (high integrity pressure protection systems) and CAP (critical action panel) – replacing the 20-year-old ‘Planar F’ system with the state-of-the-art HIMA HIQUADh51q programmable electronic system.

Chris Williams, lead engineer at Hima-Sella explained, “These new systems will incorporate Statoil’s technical requirements and latest design standards to make the new systems more efficient and more cost effective and improve system testing on the running plant. Separating the Process Control and Data Acquisition (PCDA) system from the rest of the control measures will give greater flexibility and enhance the system’s already enviable safety record.“

The replacement of these systems is part of the NOK6.5 billion (£580billion- €394 billion) KEP2010 upgrade of the Statpipe/Sleipner area of the plant – the third largest in the world - designed to make it more robust for safe and efficient operations for many years to come. Work at the site starts in 2008.