Jemena has today welcomed calls from the Queensland Government to bolster investment in gas pipeline infrastructure as a key means of solving the east-coast gas crisis.
Jemena also supports the Queensland Government’s approach to onshore gas development, with the science consistently demonstrating that a well regulated onshore gas industry can help to deliver much needed additional gas to Australian businesses and households, while also creating new jobs in regional areas.
Speaking ahead of the Australian Domestic Gas Conference – an annual gathering of gas industry leaders – Jemena’s Executive General Manager of Customer and Markets, Shaun Reardon, said the gas industry is ready and willing to invest in new infrastructure provided the right policy and regulatory settings are in place.
"Queensland has set an example which other jurisdictions should follow, with onshore gas developments being assessed on their merits on a case-by-case, rather than a blanket basis," said Mr Reardon.
"As a result Jemena has fast-tracked its plans to develop the Galilee Basin and construct a new pipeline to link the basin with the east-coast gas market, in concert with Galilee Energy.
"This investment complements our $800 million Northern Gas Pipeline (NGP), which is set for completion by the end of the year. Once completed the NGP will be able to bring around 90TJ of additional gas to the east-coast market each day. Should sufficient gas be made available in the Northern Territory, we will be able to expand and extend the NGP so that it can transport around 700TJs of gas each day – this is enough gas to meet the average daily gas needs of Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide."
Mr Reardon said that Jemena would outline its plans to enhance existing gas infrastructure when presenting at the Australian Domestic Gas Conference this year, while also highlighting the number of new jobs the NGP project has created.
"In 2017 the Northern Gas Pipeline project created 680 new construction jobs, including 316 positions in the Northern Territory and 373 positions in regional Queensland.
"Gas pipeline infrastructure has the potential to evolve to meet the changing needs of Australian energy users. As part of our presentation Jemena will demonstrate how we’re working to develop new gas technologies which are carbon-neutral while also delivering Australian businesses and households with reliable and affordable energy."
The Australian Domestic Gas Conference is being held in Sydney from 27 February to 2 March.
• the Jemena Gas Network servicing 1.3 million customers around NSW
• the Eastern Gas Pipeline which delivers gas from Victoria's Gippsland basin to the ACT, Sydney and regional NSW
• the Darling Downs Pipeline Network in south-east Queensland supplying Darling Downs Power Station and APLNG’s export pipeline
• the Queensland Gas Pipeline which supplies Gladstone and Rockhampton
• the Darling Downs Pipeline System which transports gas to the Wallumbilla gas trading hub, the 630MW Darling Downs Power Station, and to the feeder pipeline to the APLNG LNG liquefaction plant at Gladstone
• Jemena's Victorian electricity network which delivers electricity to over 330,000 homes and businesses in northern and western Melbourne.
Jemena also part-owns the ActewAGL electricity and gas distribution networks in the ACT and United Energy, which supplies electricity to more than 600,000 customers across south-eastern Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula.
More information on Jemena can be found at: www.jemena.com.au ---
