Australian Industrial Energy (AIE), an Australian-led international consortium, has selected Port Kembla in New South Wales (NSW) as preferred site for the construction of LNG import terminal.
Image: Officials from AIE, JERA among others. Photo: courtesy of Australian Industrial Energy.
The consortium includes Squadron Energy, global energy infrastructure investor Marubeni and Japan’s JERA, a joint venture of Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power.
The LNG import terminal, which will be named the Port Kembla Gas Terminal (PKGT), will have the capacity to supply in excess of 100 petajoules (PJ) per annum which is sufficient to meet more than 70% of NSW’s total gas needs.
Estimated to cost between $200m and $300m ($152m and $228m), the project is expected to generate around 150 jobs during the construction phase.
AIE CEO James Baulderstone said: “NSW is facing significant challenges in ensuring available and affordable gas supplies and we are working to make this project a reality as quickly as possible.
“In recent times wholesale gas prices have doubled, and in many cases tripled in NSW. In addition, many industrial companies are now unable to secure gas for any period longer than 12 months.
“The world-leading expertise of the AIE partners, now combined with the enthusiasm of NSW Ports and Port Kembla’s regional business community to see this project realised, means AIE is well placed to deliver firm, long term gas on highly competitive pricing and terms as soon as 2020.”
AIE expects the terminal to make the consortium a central player in the NSW and broader east coast gas market.
Till date, AIE signed 12 memorandums of understanding (MoU’s) for the supply of gas from the proposed LNG import terminal.
AIE is now planning to submit relevant planning and development applications within the next few months for the project.
Additionally, AIE is also considering the development of an associated gas-fired electricity generation plant to ensure adequate long- term electricity supply security and competition for NSW.