MCP-01 was made in Sweden and towed into position in 1976, approximately 110 miles from Aberdeen. Like the other Frigg platforms, the platform’s name was derived from its function: Manifold Compression Platform number one. Manifolding is the switching of gas from one pipeline to another, for example, if one pipeline required maintenance work.
As gas travelled hundreds of miles through the pipeline, its pressure fell, meaning less gas was transported in a given time. Compression facilities on MCP-01 gave the
supply a boost. When installed in 1981, the compressors were the largest in the North Sea.
The Manifold and Compression Platform no. 1 (MCP-01) was a concrete-based platform originally constructed and installed in 1976 (by the tugs WITTE ZEE, WOTAN, RODE ZEE and PACIFIC, see there) to serve the two 32” pipelines
transporting gas from the Frigg Field in the North Sea to the St Fergus Gas Terminal in Scotland.
MCP-01 came into service in 1977 when gas started to flow from the Frigg Field.
The ownership of MCP-01 was shared between operator TOTAL E&P UK and Gassled, a consortium of Norwegian companies including Norsk Hydro and Statoil.
MCP-01 was a gravity base structure resting secure on the seabed by virtue of its own weight. After the structure was positioned in 1976, the compartments inside
the external walls were filled with 173,000 tonnes of sand ballast to keep the platform stable on the seabed.
The total weight of the concrete substructure, including the ballast was 386,000 tonnes.
Topsides were then installed to provide the required operational facilities and accommodation.
In 1987, gas from the Alwyn North platform started to flow in the Frigg UK pipeline using the platform TP1 at Frigg as an entry point. The fields Tartan, Piper B, Claymore,
MacCulloch, Ivanhoe, Rob Roy and Galley fields used MCP-01 as a riser platform to send gas to St Fergus through the 18” Talisman spurline attached to the platform external
wall.
In 1992, MCP-01 was re-configured to allow it to be operated as a “not-normally-manned” platform controlled from St Fergus.
To improve safety and reduce maintenance, the operational equipment used on the platform was kept to a minimum and, if required, the platform could be shut down from the
nearby Tartan platform.
The pipelines entering and leaving MCP-01 were bypassed during 2004 and 2005, allowing MCP-01 to be decommissioned.
The concrete substructure was never used for storage of crude oil nor drilling operations, and there were no drill cutting accumulations either inside the
substructure or on the seabed near the platform.
At the time MCP-01 was designed and constructed, consideration for a future removal operation was not included in the design process.
(Sweden 1981, 2,40 Kr. StG.1090)
Internet.