The project to connect Huntly to Victoria’s natural gas network, part of the Victorian Government’s $100 million Energy for the Regions Program, has been progressing well.
Acting Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Peter Ryan inspected progress on the $4.5 million project, that will look to connect more than 580 households and businesses to reticulated natural gas.
Mr Ryan said the project would be among the first completed under the Energy for the Regions Program, funded through the $1 billion Regional Growth Fund.
“Huntly residents will soon have access to cheaper and cleaner energy,” Mr Ryan said.
“Cheaper energy makes life easier for everyday people and makes Huntly a more attractive place to run a business.”
Gas network owner SP AusNet has already installed more than 3.8 kilometres of supply main down the Midland Highway and is beginning work on the 13 kilometres of reticulation pipeline to supply homes and businesses throughout Huntly with natural gas.
Mr Ryan was joined in Huntly by SP AusNet’s General Manager Asset Management, Alistair Parker, who said the company was committed to delivering the underground gas network on time, safely and with minimal disruption to locals.
Mr Ryan also met with Huntly residents who will be among the first connected to natural gas.
Over the past five years, SP AusNet has extended its natural gas network in western Victoria to more than 92,000 homes and businesses and plans to have the gas pipes ready for Huntly residents and businesses to connect by mid-2014.
Details about Huntly’s connection to natural gas and general gas information are available on SP AusNet’s website.
Mr Ryan said the Victorian Government had made good progress in delivering natural gas through the Energy for the Regions Program to 14 priority towns.
“The Government is committed to delivering natural gas to more communities in regional Victoria and has already reached agreements to deliver gas to Huntly, Bannockburn, Avoca, Winchelsea and Wandong-Heathcote Junction, and to expand the current supply to Mildura,” Mr Ryan said
“We’ve also announced an $85 million tender to connect the remaining priority towns, as well as Murray River communities, to natural gas using compressed or liquefied natural gas.
“Energy for the Regions is a key component of our flagship $1 billion Regional Growth Fund, which invests in community-led projects to strategically drive jobs, investment and innovation in rural and regional Victoria.
“In three short years, the Regional Growth Fund has invested more than $350 million into more than 1200 projects worth a whopping $1.5 billion across regional and rural Victoria.”
