* BP announces deep cuts to carbon emissions
* Norwegian platforms already use renewable power
* Request from foreign operators unprecedented
By Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Oil majors BP, Shell
and Total want to connect some of their oil
platforms to Norway's onshore power grid to reduce carbon
emissions, BP said in a letter to the oil and energy ministry.
Pressure has intensified on fossil fuel companies to curb
emissions as investors threaten to withold funds and public
awareness of climate change grows.
BP on Wednesday said it planned deep cuts to its emissions
by 2050.
Offshore installations at BP's Eastern Trough Area Project
(ETAP), Shell's Shearwater and Total's Elgin-Franklin in the
British sector of the North Sea could be connected via a
300-kilometres-long subsea cable, BP's letter said.
"Electrification of these platforms offers significant
socio-economic benefits by significantly reducing emissions," BP
said in a letter to the ministry seen by Reuters.
It said it had already submitted an application to connect
to the Norwegian grid, asking the ministry's officials to meet
to discuss the project further.
Norway, which has generated huge wealth by exporting fossil
fuel, generates its own electricity almost entirely from
renewable sources, such as hydro and wind power.
A number of oil platforms on the Norwegian continental shelf
have already been connected to the grid, with more projects
expected.
But the requests to electrify foreign oil platforms,
replacing fossil fuel energy with carbon-free power, are
unprecedented, the ministry said, adding it had yet to make a
decision.
"Applications to build interconnections to supply petroleum
installations abroad are not something the energy authorities
have considered or decided on yet," a ministry spokesman said in
an email to Reuters.
The installations would require 100-200 megawatts (MW) in
power capacity, which could be provided by a subsea cable
starting from 2023, with investments estimated in a range of 7
billion to 9 billion crowns ($760-977 million), BP said.
Shell had no immediate comment and Total could not
immediately be reached for comment.
Norwegian news website E24 was the first media outlet to
report on BP's letter.
($1 = 9.2093 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; editing by Victoria Klesty and
Barbara Lewis)
