Melkøya

Melkøya
Native name: Muolkkut
	Melkøya Location of the island Melkøya Melkøya (Norway)
Geography
Location	Troms og Finnmark, Norway
Coordinates	70°41′24″N 23°35′56″E / 70.6900°N 23.5990°E
Area	0.69 km2 (0.27 sq mi)
Length	1.6 km (0.99 mi)
Width	810 m (2660 ft)
Highest elevation	71 m (233 ft)
Administration
	Norway
County	Troms og Finnmark
Municipality	Hammerfest Municipality

Melkøya (Template:Lang-sme) is an island in Hammerfest Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The 0.69-square-kilometre (170-acre) island is connected to the town of Hammerfest (on the neighboring island of Kvaløya to the west) by the Melkøysund Tunnel which was completed in 2003.^[1]

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 168-kilometre (104 mi) long pipeline to the processing plant Hammerfest LNG on Melkøya where it is converted into liquefied natural gas. The plant opened in 2007 and it is operated by Equinor.^[1] Liquefied natural gas is then exported from Melkøya to world markets by a LNG gas carrier or tanker.

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^[2] black-legged kittiwake adopted a man-made cliff at the facility for nesting, making it one of the larges colonies in the world.^[3]