After the methanol loading activities at Tyra II, TotalEnergies confirmed, on behalf of its partners in the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC), that the gas flow from the Dan field was re-established into the Tyra facilities. The anticipated start-up date for the project remained in March, with the arrival of gas to Denmark expected between March 21 – 31, 2024. The DUC is a partnership between TotalEnergies (operator, 43.2%), BlueNord (36.8%), and Nordsøfonden (20%).
According to the French giant, the gas production from the Tyra hub has now been restarted, thus, the project will produce 5.7 million cubic meters of gas and 22,000 barrels of condensate per day at a plateau. The oil major claims that this will make Denmark self-sufficient and a net exporter of natural gas. The gas from the Tyra hub is delivered to Europe through two export pipelines to Nybro in Denmark and Den Helder in the Netherlands.
Nicolas Terraz President, Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies, commented: “We are pleased to restart the Tyra hub, one of the most technologically advanced offshore gas installations in the world. The success of this major redevelopment project owes a lot to the commitment of our teams, our partners and our contractors.
“The new Tyra leverages state-of-the-art digital solutions and technological innovations to produce more efficiently and with 30% lower greenhouse gas emissions than the former facilities. Importantly, the resumption of gas production from Tyra improves Europe’s security of supply.”
Tyra, discovered in 1968 by Maersk Oil, is located 225 kilometers west of the coast of Esbjerg. The gas production from the project was suspended in September 2019 to enable the redevelopment of Tyra. Following the decommissioning of the previous Tyra facilities, eight new platform topsides, two jackets, and six bridges were installed. This redevelopment project enabled 98.5% of the materials recovered from the retired installations to be reused or recycled.
Marianne Eide, Chief Operating Officer of BlueNord, remarked: “With restart of production today, the most important Tyra redevelopment milestone has been achieved. I would like to thank TotalEnergies and the Tyra project team for their commitment to the project and for safely restarting the production on Tyra. Focus is now on bringing the Tyra fields and satellites Valdemar, Roar, Harald and Svend on production through one of the most advanced and efficient offshore gas installations in the world.”
The Tyra redevelopment project is perceived to be the largest one carried out on the Danish Continental Shelf to date. The redeveloped Tyra is anticipated to significantly decrease field opex and emissions intensity while at the same time extending its field life by 25 years, only constrained by the 2042 license expiry.
Euan Shirlaw, Chief Executive Officer of BlueNord, highlighted: “With a ramp-up that is expected to last four months, Tyra will shortly be a key supporter of energy security in the region, transforming Denmark from a net importer to a net exporter of natural gas and supporting the European Union in a manner that compares favourably to imported LNG.”
A final investment decision (FID) was recently taken to drill a well in the Harald East area. If these drilling operations end up being successful, natural gas will be exported through the Tyra East facilities. The well could deliver production by the end of 2024.
TotalEnergies has been a busy bee in Denmark, as the company not only operates more than 80% of oil and 90% of gas produced in the country, but it is also developing carbon storage projects that could store up to 5 Mt/y of CO2 by 2030 and two offshore wind projects with a capacity of 405 MW. On top of this, the firm is working on developing additional activities related to wind, solar, and biogas.