Jemena has announced the opening of the Eastern Gas Pipeline (EGP) expansion, which connects gas from Victoria’s Gippsland Basin to the east coast market.
The expansion has increased capacity of the pipeline by 20 per cent, and will provide for the growing demand for natural gas on Australia’s east coast.
The EGP is a 797km pipeline transporting gas from Victoria’s Gippsland Basin to Sydney, the ACT and regional New South Wales.
The EPG was commissioned in 2000, and the recent $150million expansion involved the installation of two new midline compressor stations at East Gippsland and Michelago, plus additional delivery facilities at Wilton.
The EGP can now transport at least 22PJ more gas each year into NSW, which is enough to supply around one million NSW homes for a year.
The EGP supplies more than half the gas consumed in NSW, and on many occasions this year has transported 100 per cent of the gas used in the state.
The EGP feeds into the company’s distribution network, which delivers natural gas to more than 1.2million homes and businesses across Sydney and regional NSW.
Jemena Managing Director, Paul Adams, said demand for gas in NSW remained strong, despite a challenging outlook in the short term driven by tighter domestic supply.
“We expanded the EGP so we can keep gas competitive by moving more much needed supply into NSW,” Mr Adams said.
“Last year, we connected more than 44,000 new customers to gas. Over the next five years, we expect to add more than 185,000 new customers to our network, so they can also enjoy the benefits of affordable, reliable, responsive and low emissions natural gas.”
Jemena has also opened the new Michelago Compressor Station in Southern NSW, which forms part of the work being done by Jemena to increase the capacity of the Eastern Gas Pipeline.
This follows the installation of another compressor station in Gippsland, Victoria to ensure flows into NSW.
The NSW Minister for Industry, Resources and Energy, Anthony Roberts, said, “NSW demands approximately 140 Petajoules a year and this project alone will help deliver an extra 22 Petajoules per year.”
The EGP expansion is the latest project to enhance Jemena’s gas transmission network.
Mr Adams said Jemena had committed to invest nearly $1billion in its pipeline assets over the last few years, increasing capacity and establishing new delivery points to offer customers even more competitive and reliable transport and storage options.
Jemena is currently preparing to build the $800million North East Gas Interconnector Pipeline (NEGI), which will link the gas reserves of the Northern Territory with markets on the east coast through Mt Isa.
Work on NEGI is progressing, with first gas scheduled to flow to customers in 2018.
In 2015, Jemena increased capacity on the Queensland Gas Pipeline (QGP) by seven per cent, delivering around 10TJ/day of additional firm capacity.
The QGP delivers gas from the Surat/Cooper Basin to customers in and around Gladstone and Rockhampton.
Mr Adams said, “With gas production, consumption and exports all forecast to grow over the next two decades, we see real prospects to expand our existing transportation network and build alternative routes from gas fields to market.
“New routes and delivery points in Australia’s pipeline network means more choice and flexibility for shippers.
“More competition in the gas transport sector can only help drive prices down for customers and keep gas an integral part of the national energy mix.”