Case Study – K2JV Johan Sverdrup

On Statoil / Equinor’s giant Johan Sverdrup project off the Norwegian continental shelf, K2JV – a joint venture between Kvaerner & KBR – built the utility platform and subcontracted work to build the living quarters. FTI FibaClad was selected as the preferred system in the ‘GRP’ specification because of FTI’s twenty-year history of producing consistent, high-quality cladding.

The insulation system chosen for the project was GRP over Aerogel. The thermal insulation and cladding specification was first written to combat corrosion under insulation, but several other FibaClad benefits quickly became evident, such as: reduced insulation thicknesses, reduced weight, increased speed of fitting and improvements in health and safety.

Furthermore, the mechanically strong, robust FibaClad system avoids being easily damaged and provides a high degree of mechanical protection during construction. And K2JV recognised FTI’s market-leading designs and excellent sealing to keep the system watertight.

Post construction, this long-term integrity was seen as vital in keeping maintenance costs low. And the fact that FibaClad has hardly ever suffered any mechanical damage (even when sorely abused as a base for scaffolding storage), allowed FTI to provide, in an industry first, a two-year quibble-free mechanical guarantee for the FibaClad system, stating that any damaged parts would be replaced (other than malicious damage). There haven’t been any requests so far!

K2JV also saw the importance of using FTI as part of their technical support team for training and supporting the project. Within K2JV’s comprehensive programme, which included competence testing at the end of the modules, FTI provided on-site system training to all the individual insulation contractors, giving the FibaClad system the highest possible chance of success.

At FTI, we feel that the product is only as good as the application. But if you get the application right first time, with proper training and project support to ensure the system is watertight, then preventing corrosion under insulation simply requires specifying the system with proven long-term integrity – FibaClad from FTI.

It is perhaps this combination of an outstanding product with dedicated technical support which explains why, in addition to the ULQ work for K2JV, FibaClad was also selected by Aibel for the drilling platform and Kaefer for some bridge work. FTI is proud to be aligned with these prominent engineering and insulation contractors who are driving innovation in Norway.