Equinor’s 2012 award of the first spar platform for its Aasta Hansteen field development in the northern Norwegian Sea provided the first opportunity to build a floating platform with steel catenary risers and a large volume hull condensate storage in this area. The contract, awarded to a consortium composed of Technip Energies and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), covers engineering, procurement, construction and transportation of the spar hull and its mooring systems at a depth of about 1,300 m (4,250 ft).
Project management, engineering and procurement were based in Houston, Texas, USA and fabrication in HHI’s Ulsan fabrication yard in South Korea. After the heavy lift vessel transport to Norway, the spar was offloaded, upended, ballasted and then installed in a temporary mooring for the final commissioning scope of work.