Tyra, French TV Star

[LE 20H TF1] [Le GRAND format]

It is one of the most isolated gas platforms in the world.

Its name: Tyra.

35,000 tons of steel placed in the heart of the North Sea, one hour by helicopter from the nearest coast.

We are about 80 meters above the sea. A giant that produces enough gas to cover twice the annual consumption of Denmark and partially supplies our French homes.

Usually only accessible to a hundred employees, we were exceptionally authorized to go there.

But to access it, a surprising test must first be completed. Here, it's a helicopter crash simulation. It’s one of the many mandatory trainings to be able to go and work on the platform.

Like all employees, we comply with the survival exercise.

Objective: orient yourself despite the rotation, and escape through the nearest window.

Good news, we are declared fit to make the trip.

It’s now time to head 225 kilometers away, to Tyra.

A helicopter at full speed takes us there for the start of a highly supervised visit. As soon as we set foot, the countdown begins. We must leave in less than five hours.

Watch where you step. Don’t focus only on the camera.

The rules are strict: it is forbidden to question employees without the managers’ authorization.

What are you doing today, Stefano? We’re testing the current.

One of his supervisors, a former Irish sailor, explains to us how the platform works. It draws its gas from a huge deposit located two kilometers below.

This pipeline comes directly from the well and feeds this large sphere which separates gas, oil, and water.

Because you can’t export gas and oil at the same time? No, and you can’t export wet gas or wet oil, you have to remove the water.

What’s quite impressive is that there are several places on the platform where you can literally feel the ground shaking beneath your feet, due to the energy of the gas coming from satellite fields.

Because Tyra is not just a simple platform. It’s what we call a hub. All around it, kilometers away, neighboring gas fields supply it.

Before two pipelines send the gas to Denmark, but also toward the rest of Europe, to us.

Thanks to this huge pipe plunging under the sea, the gas goes directly to the Netherlands.

We are therefore on one of the most strategic spots in all of Europe.

More than 3 billion euros have been invested to modernize the platform. Eventually, it will represent 6% of all gas produced in Europe. Enough to reduce imports of this fossil energy from abroad. Much more than a floating factory, Tyra is also a city.

Here, more than 50 nationalities coexist, mostly men. And when it comes to living spaces, there are of course essentials like the canteen.

On the menu: pork with potatoes and vegetables.

Or more unusual ones like this shop. Here is the store. People can buy sweets, sodas, perfume, and even boxers.

It’s the best place on this big raft.

Employees even have their own gym, music room, and even a sauna. Enough to clear their minds during their two-week rotations at sea.

An extraordinary life, just like their platform.