Melkøya

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Melkøya ( German " milk island " ) is an island off the Norwegian coast near the town of Hammerfest in Finnmark county.

Economic Importance

On the island a facility for the storage and processing of natural gas from the gas field was Snøhvitfeltet (Norwegian Snow White field) constructed in the Barents Sea. The plant was constructed by Linde AG, built in Spain and towed to a floating platform to Norway. It is the largest of its kind in Europe and occupies the area of ​​the island completely. The gas is transported through a 143 km long gas pipeline to Melkøya. On Melkøya it is then processed and processed into liquefied natural gas. Then it is transported by tankers. The start of construction was 2003. Operated by Statoil plant went into operation in autumn 2007.

After the start in August 2007, the plant was shut down again due to technical problems in November. In the meantime, a part of the gas is burned, with significant amounts of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carcinogenic carbon black came into the environment. In January 2008, the investment is partially gone back into operation, with excess gas was flared at times. It now includes also the first shipment to the United States.

History

In connection with the construction project of Statoil an archaeological survey was conducted in 2001 and 2002. It traces of human settlement from the fading Stone Age have been found that date back to the end of the last ice age.

Before the Second World War Melkøya was inhabited about a century. On the island, cows and sheep were kept in small scale. Together with Hammerfest, the island was, however, forcibly evacuated by German forces stationed on her a battery of Wehrmacht. The area was secured with barbed wire and land mines. After the war, the re-colonization and agricultural Reusing failed on these fortifications, and was abandoned in 1951. During the evacuation of Melkøya in the summer of 2002, parts of the left on the island buildings and objects were transferred (Norwegian Museum of reconstruction ) in Hammerfest in the Gjenreisningsmuseet.