Jemena has officially opened the Eastern Gas Pipeline (EGP) expansion, which has increased capacity on the pipeline by 20% to meet growing demand for natural gas on Australia’s east coast.
A vital link connecting gas from Victoria’s Gippsland Basin to the east coast market, the EGP can now transport at least 22PJ more gas each year into NSW. That’s enough gas to supply around one million NSW homes for a year.
The almost $150 million project involved installing two new midline compressor stations at East Gippsland and Michelago, plus additional delivery facilities at Wilton.
The EGP supplies more than half the gas consumed in NSW, and on many occasions this year has transported 100% of the gas used in the state.
NSW is a critical market for Jemena. The EGP feeds into the company’s distribution network, which delivers natural gas to more than 1.2 million homes and businesses across Sydney and in 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,” he 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.”
The EGP expansion is the latest project to enhance Jemena’s gas transmission network.
Mr Adams said Jemena had committed to invest nearly $1 billion 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 $800 million Northern Gas Pipeline (NGP), which will link the gas reserves of the Northern Territory with markets on the east coast through Mt Isa.
Work on this new pipeline is progressing, with first gas scheduled to flow to customers in 2018.
In 2015, Jemena increased capacity on the Queensland Gas Pipeline (QGP) by 7%, delivering around 10 TJ/day of additional firm capacity. The QGP delivers gas from the Surat/Cooper Basin to customers in and around Gladstone and Rockhampton.