Aker Solutions has been awarded a contract by Equinor to carry out a feasibility study for its Mongstad Industrial Transformation project in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway.

The study aims to identify solutions to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from the existing refinery and transform the site into a new low-carbon industry cluster whilst demonstrating safe, technical, and economically feasible solutions.

The scope includes a new greenfield facility which will be developed to produce blue hydrogen from natural and refinery fuel gas, along with a carbon capture and export solution. It also covers a new facility to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from municipal solid waste with more than 70 % reduced emissions.

Aker Solutions’ consultancy will deliver a feasibility study for both new and existing facilities, integrating brownfield, greenfield and third-party technologies to examine options for future operations. Consultants and engineers from Aker Solutions’ Oslo, Bergen and Mumbai operations are involved, delivering expertise in onshore and downstream project execution, gasification, CO2 storage, brownfield, and integration.

“We are excited to support Equinor on this truly transformational study, maximizing industrial synergies to produce low-carbon solutions and sustainable fuels at a time when decarbonization is very high on the agenda,” said Roddy Macpherson, senior vice president, consultancy at Aker Solutions.

“For decades, we have worked with customers and partners to minimize commercial uncertainty and enable informed decision-making for first-of-a-kind projects across the globe. Building on our strong engineering and construction expertise, and our understanding of the evolving energy system and landscape, we aim to drive change at pace for our customers. The Mongstad study will help to further accelerate Norway’s energy transition, transforming the country’s only remaining oil and gas refinery to create energy sources of the future.”

Mongstad is a medium sized refinery in Europe, emitting around 1.7 million tons of CO2 emissions annually. Equinor aims to significantly reduce emissions the Mongstad refinery.

Study work is ongoing.