Hammerfest LNG was meant to reenter operation in late March, but now Equinor is aiming to start the facility back up on May 17, 2022, the oil giant informs in a press statement.

"We work systematically to deliver on the plan we established, but challenges related to Covid-19 restrictions require that we need more time to prepare the plant for safe and stable start-up and operations," writes Grete B. Haaland, senior vice president for Equinor's onshore plants.

According to Hammerfest LNG Plant Manager Thor Johan Haave, recent contact with infected persons combined with restrictions and crowded working areas have drawn out the process. At various points, over half of facility's personnel have either been quarantined.

“The project work is nearing completion and we're doing what we can to finish the project," he notes.

This is not the first time Equinor puts off the starting date of Hammerfest after the fire in 2020 that hit one of the facility's five big gas turbines, with work to put out the blaze leaving "significant damage" at the plant and more 70,000 equipment components impacted by the fire.

Hammerfest was first set to reopen in October of 2021, but the date was later postponed to March of 2022.

At the time, the company explained the delay citing a big workload compounded by Covid-19 restrictions.

Replacing electrical cables connected to the converter station where the fire started took an especially long time, Equinor said about efforts to restore more than 180 kilometers of cable.

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