Melkøya
or is an island in Hammerfest Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The island is connected to the town of Hammerfest by the 2,316 metres-long Melkøysund Tunnel, which was completed in 2003.
The industrial island is the endpoint of the undersea pipeline that transports natural gas from the Snøhvit natural gas fields in the Barents Sea. The gas goes through the long pipeline to the processing plant Hammerfest LNG on Melkøya where 18 million cubic metres per day is converted into liquefied natural gas. The plant opened in 2007 and is operated by Equinor. After a fire closed the plant in 2020, it re-opened in 2022. Liquefied natural gas is then exported from Melkøya to world markets by a LNG gas carrier or tanker. The plant emitted 0.9 million tonnes of in 2023.
In Q2 2025, media started reporting about some incidents and accidents in regard to gas leaks and worker safety. In July 2025, for the first time, a worker spoke without anonymity, about one of the incidents . Media has later reported about two cases, of workers that lost their work with employment agency, after having spoken with media about safety issues. Equinor does not have a procedure for getting its employees s quickly to a doctor, when gas leaks happen.
History
The island was previously used for farming, and rental houses for seasonal fishermen were also built on the island.In 2001 and 2002, major archaeological investigations on Melkøya were undertaken before Statoil's development of the island began. The development of the island has changed Melkøya completely. On 21 August 2007, the gas from the Snøhvit field began flowing to Melkøya.
The endangered black-legged kittiwake adopted a man-made cliff at the facility for nesting, making it one of the largest kittiwake colonies in the world.