26th January by Jane Goult
px Group, the owner of Saltend Chemicals Park and operator of several critical energy infrastructure sites in the UK, has been appointed as the operator of the Risavika Liquefaction Plant (RLP) in Southern Norway.
North Sea Midstream Partners (NSMP), which acquired RLP in November 2021, has made the appointment of px Group as the operating partner of the plant, which has a capacity of 300,000 tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) per year.
The plant, which operates predominantly on electricity produced from renewable sources, takes natural gas produced offshore Norway and converts it into LNG which is then used in shipping, road transport and heating.
px Group has a long-standing relationship with NSMP. It already operates and maintains the St. Fergus Gas Terminal and Teesside Gas Processing Plant on behalf of NSMP.
The appointment represents px Group’s first operational site outside of the UK and it has set up a new operating entity in Norway, px Norge AS.
Geoff Holmes, CEO of px Group, says: “We are delighted to be joining NSMP at RLP and replicating in Europe the close operating partnership that we have honed at St. Fergus and Teesside. We call the way we work together a ‘One Team’ way of operating – we’ll be taking that same close-knit approach to Risavika.”
“RLP is exciting for px Group on a number of levels, not least because it represents px Group’s expanding international footprint.”
“It’s also our first major LNG site, which is in our capability sweet spot. LNG plays a critical role in the energy mix and is a component in the transition to lower-carbon sources of energy for sectors such as maritime.”
px Group assisted NSMP in its acquisition activities, including people management, contract analysis, infrastructure, and procurement.
px Group takes over management of the 21-strong, local team at Risavika, and has appointed a new Board Director. Risavika operations will be overseen by Mike Horgan, MD, Onshore Oil & Gas at px Group.
Geoff Holmes continues: “I have experienced first-hand Norway’s fantastic culture of health and safety and operational excellence, which is always our number one priority. So we’ll certainly be looking to learn from the team there, and also sharing good practice from px Group’s existing operations.”
“We have been really impressed with the team on the ground at RLP from the outset, and we’re genuinely looking forward to working with them.”
Andy Heppel, CEO of NSMP, comments: “NSMP and px have worked very successfully together on Teesside since 2012 and at St Fergus since 2016 and so it was a natural step to work again with px at RLP. We look forward to working with px and the great team at RLP as we seek to expand our Norwegian business.”
