Shetland gas plant shut down over steam release

Steam rising from the plant could be seen from miles away

The Shetland Gas Plant has been shut down after a release of steam.

Operator TotalEnergies says part of the heating system on the site failed and staff were called to muster. Nobody was hurt in the incident and an investigation is under way.

The plant, next to the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal, takes in gas from fields to the north-west of Shetland.

The facility processes the gas before it is piped to the Scottish mainland.

A spokesperson for TotalEnergies said: "Following the failure of an element of the heating medium system at Shetland Gas Plant yesterday, production remains shutdown whilst we conduct an investigation into the incident.

"Separately, we are also assessing when it will be safe to restart production. We will not restart production until it is safe to do so."

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The company added that the steam emitting from the plant did not pose a risk.

The spokesperson said: "We wish to reassure people that the substance came from the heating system, was made up primarily of water and was not a hydrocarbon leak."

The facility processes gas from the Laggan and Tormore fields, before it is piped to mainland Scotland.

When it opened in 2016 Total said the plant was capable of providing about 8% of the UK's gas needs, supplying the equivalent of around two million homes.

The plant cost £3.5bn to build and at the time it was the biggest construction project in the UK since the London Olympics.